


What if?

by goldenpatronus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: First Time, Fluff and Angst, Getting Together, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mutual Pining, Nothing explicit, Shifting POV between Albus and Scorpius, Slow Burn, Time Skips, Underage Drinking, alternative universe, basically everything is the same except albus and scorpius never became friends in their first year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:13:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22486894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goldenpatronus/pseuds/goldenpatronus
Summary: On their first Hogwart's Express, Albus and Scorpius don't share a compartment, which leads them to walk different paths and never become friends in the first place. Despite their unmatched fates, nothing is enough to keep their attention away from each other, and they eventually end up how they supposed to be.Time Skips, Shifting POV, the story follows them across their Hogwarts years and how even though the shared different lives, they couldn't fight what was meant to be.Extremely cheesy, with sprinkles of angst.
Relationships: Scorpius Malfoy/Albus Severus Potter
Comments: 14
Kudos: 118





	1. beofre 'it' happened.

**Author's Note:**

> i was debating whether i should post this as separated chapters, or wait until i had finished the whole story and post it as a complete work. at the end, i decided on the last option, but still kept the chapters separated. i hope you enjoy it!
> 
> first chapter is the only one to have time skips!

Rose ran through the corridors, her fierce hair waving behind her. 

“Come on, Albus. We need to concentrate. My mom and dad met your dad on their first Hogwarts Express, you know…” Rose walked ahead, scanning all the compartments and the students inside of them with an impressive determination.

“So we need to choose now who to be best friends for life? That’s quite scary…” Albus dragged his feet behind her, dogging the curious looks of the students. 

“On the contrary, it’s exciting. I’m a Granger-Weasley, you are a Potter. Everyone will want to be friends with us, we’ve got to pick anyone we want.” Albus frowned at her, not that she realized anyway. She had a tendency of barely noticing Albus’ opinions at all. 

You see, the problem with Rose’s plan was that he didn’t want people to befriend him because he was a Potter. That was actually the opposite of what he wanted. The idea of people approaching him because of his last name made him feel weird, like he didn’t actually matter at all. 

Rose didn’t seem to mind the status or the attention, on the contrary, she seemed to love it. Albus half thought that she could very well fit into Slyhterin. Though he didn’t know if the idea comforted him or terrified him.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, he tried to go along. “So how do we decide which compartment to go in…?” Albus turned his head and noticed a girl in the closest compartment pointing at him and whispering excitedly. He ducked his head and hurried to keep on with Rose. 

“We rate them all and then we make a decision.” Rose said as matter of fact. She always had a plan. It was usually a good thing, but right now Albus couldn’t tell how they could choose someone just by looking at them. It seemed shallow, and it seemed too big of a decision to be made on looks only. He thought he wasn’t supposed to judge people based on their looks, or something like along those lines. 

“I don’t know, Rose… Let’s just go find and empty compartment and, I don’t know… and see who approaches us instead?” Albus was looking at the nearest compartments. He didn’t want to go into any of them, not while everyone was looking at the two of them as if they were a price to win. Albus could already hear their thought process: ‘Oh, Look, I befriended a Potter. Jackpot!’ He was already getting pissed off at everyone on the train. 

Albus sighed with resignation. He needed to control his moods, he couldn’t start his first year already hating everyone that dared to look at him. His mom was right, he needed to have a more positive mind-set. 

He continued to trail behind his cousin and looked into the next compartment. He noticed a blond boy was sitting alone, holding a book bigger than his own head. He had a pile of sweets by his side, and unlike the other students, he was sitting all by himself. The boy seemed either unfazed by the people walking by the corridor, or trying to appear so. Albus thought he looked approachable, at least less intimidating that the rest of the students with their curious eyes and pointing fingers.

He made the decision and put his hand on the door handle. The boy inside turned to look at him. They made eye contact for half a second, and the boy seemed to be about to smile.

“Albus!” Rose called him.

Albus jumped, startled, and turned to look at her. “What?”

“I said it’s a good idea. Let’s go find an empty compartment.” Albus blinked at her. “Everyone wants us to approach them. I say they better approach us, no?” Rose smiled proudly.

Albus looked at her confused, having already lost his previous track of thought. He finally nodded. The idea of being alone was actually enticing. He was already overwhelmed by everyone. “Okay.” He said.

He dropped his hand from the compartment door and followed Rose.

(…)

“I heard that Scorpius Malfoy is starting first year with us…”

Albus was taken out of his daydreaming state. He turned his head away from the carriage window and looked at the girl that was talking with Rose.

“Oh, yeah I heard the same.” Rose said while waving her hand in a dismissive form, as if she didn’t care that much.

“I saw him on my way over here.” The girl continued. Albus couldn’t remember her name. “Good thing you guys let me sit with you, can you imagine? Having to sit with him?” She let out a laugh, though she appeared to visibly cringe at the idea.

“Must be quite something, yeah.” Rose shoved a piece of chocolate frog into her mouth.

“What’s up with him?” Albus asked, curious.

The two girls looked at him in silence.

“Seriously Al? Are you dumb?” Rose asked him with a mix of surprise and offence. Albus frowned at her. He hated Rose treated as if he were a kid when they were exactly the same age. “He is Malfoy!” She added exasperated when Albus didn’t say anything.

“And…?” Albus was having a hard time following her.

“Did you hit your head?” Rose frowned back at him. “His parents are Death Eaters, Albus.”

“Well,” Albus started. He thought about many things in regards to that statement. It probably wasn’t a hundred percent right, but he decided that he didn’t really know the Malfoys well enough to discuss that. Well, he was sure that he had heard his own mother make a comment about Astoria Malfoy once, but it was a vague memory.

After a moment, he ended up saying: “Okay, but that doesn’t mean he is like them, does it? I mean, my dad’s god father, Sirius Black, had a bad family too, but he was nice…”

Rose looked at him. ”Yeah, I guess.” She shifted in her seat. “But Sirius is one in a million. It’s more likely that Scorpius is just like them, at the very least we need to be careful.”

“Yeah, I agree with Rose.” The girl said. Albus wanted to say that it wasn’t fair to not give him at least a chance, but he didn’t want to argue with the girls. “There’s also that rumour…” The girl continued. “I don’t know if I want to find out if it’s true. Might not be, but I don’t want to be involved…”

Albus looked between the two of them. “What rumour?”

The girl looked around uncomfortable, apparently debating whether it was prudent or not to speak. “That he is… Voldemort’s son…” She whispered.

“What??” Albus almost chocked. “How? When?” He looked at the two of them again. “What?”

“It’s probably not true.” Rose said. “But the rumour is that they used a Time Turner to… you know.” She finished, arching her eyebrows at the end to emphasize the implication.

“That makes no sense.” Albus said.

“Not really.” Agreed Rose. “But who knows.”

“Woah.” Albus frowned. “Wait. Hold on. One thing is saying that he might be a Death Eater, but saying something like that…” He stared at his cousin “Rose, please don’t tell me you are like those people that actually believe rumours. You are smart.” Albus couldn’t help but say something. He hated gossip, and he hated bullying, so he couldn’t help but feel indignant at the idea of people out casting someone because of such a stupid rumour.

“No, of course.” Rose said, sitting straighter and puffing her chest. She always prided herself about being smart. “But he is still a Malfoy, so is that really any better?”

Albus couldn’t really disagree with her, so he said nothing.

(…)

The train arrived at the station, and Albus found himself following all the other first year students, trying to keep up without tripping on his own feet.

“Oh, Merlin, Albus! Aren’t you nervous?” Rose squeezed his arm.

Despite their previous disagreement, he couldn’t help but smile at his cousin. They did fight sometimes, but that didn’t take away the fact that he was very fond of her. “I think I’m going to puke.” He told her, and she smiled at him.

“It’s going to be fine.” She told him with a reassuring smile.

They both looked up to the big entrance of the castle. “It’s… big.” Albus said, for a lack of a better word.

“Magnificent. Imposing. Grandiose.” Rose said. “Magical.” She added with her signature proud smile. Albus rolled his eyes, though he agreed with her. Hogwarts seemed magical.

They walked through the corridor, being pushed around by all the other exited first years.

“Hey.” Someone called from behind him, and Albus turned to see a boy talking to him. “You are Potter, right? Albus Potter.”

“Ah, yes. Hi.” Albus replied. The boy introduced himself, and so did some of his friends. Rose introduced herself too, thought she seemed to be sticking with the girl she had met earlier at the train. Albus wondered if he should be already making a friend too, since Rose seemed to already have someone else.

They kept on walking until they reached a big group of students, who seemed to be waiting outside the Great Hall.

“I’m so nervous!” The boy next to him exclaimed. Albus turned to smile at him, proposedly decided on socializing with someone other than his cousin, but noticed someone in the distance. The same blond boy he had seen at the train was a few meters away from them. Right now, in the middle of the multitude, he really stood out from the other students with his bright hair. He seemed to be alone, Albus noted, and was looking around with a mixture of fear and excitement.

“Malfoy.” Someone sneered next to Albus. He turned around and raised an eyebrow. “Scorpius Malfoy, can’t you notice?” The boy asked him. Albus looked back at the blond boy again. He did in fact looked a lot like a Malfoy, now that he mentioned it.

“Yeah, ‘Malfoy’.” A girl laughed along. “More like Riddle, no?” She continued, and the boy next to Albus laughed too.

Albus looked between the two students, not quite finding the fun in the joke, and kept on walking. Maybe making friends could wait.

(…)

“Potter, Albus Severus!” Albus mentally cringed when the teacher said his middle name. He then proceeded to realize that it meant it was his turn to be sorted.

He took a deep breath, and walked to the stool placed in the front of the hall. The teacher was holding a list of names on one hand, and the sorting hat in the other one. He took the seat and she placed the hat on his head.

The room was dead silent, and Albus could feel everyone’s eyes on him. The silence seemed to stretch for ages. He answer the questions as fast as he could, wishing the hat would stop talking and end his suffering.

“SLYTHERIN!” It finally shouted.

He felt as if a bucket of iced water had been dropped on him. The entire room held its breath, and as he was shushed by the teacher and walked over the Slytherin table, he heard the murmuring slowly growing.

“Slytherin?” Someone asked.

“A Potter? In Slytherin? Woah…” Another person whispered not so subtly. 

“Well, I suppose he doesn’t look that much to his father…” Albus thought he recognized that feminine voice.

“Just wait until the news spreads!” At this point no one was really trying to be quiet. 

He kept his eyes on the Slytherin table, trying to maintain an unfazed look. At the distance, almost at the end of the table, he noticed the same blond boy. Scorpius, he remembered. The kid seemed surprised, and was looking at him with big eyes.

“Potter.” Someone called him. He turned his attention to a bunch of boys at the middle of the table. “Don’t be shy, come here!”

He stopped for a second, still trying to react properly. He finally nodded at them, hoping he hadn’t taken too long to do so, and silently sat next to them. He was still shocked, and couldn’t focus his eyes on anything in particular.

“Albus?” He heard Rose’s voice. “But this in wrong, Albus. This is not how it was supposed to be!”

A boy next to him punched him in the shoulder. “This is about to get interesting.” He said.

Albus gave him a small smile.

(…)

One of the first classes of the week was with the Gryffindor students, which gave him the opportunity to be with Rose.

“I mean, I’m mad at you!” Rose exclaimed while everyone was settling in the classroom, waiting for the teacher to arrive. “But whatever, it’s just a stupid house, we can’t let it keeps us apart!” She was sitting on his desk, her legs dangling a few centimetres from the floor. It had been a few days, and Albus was glad that she seemed to be getting over the initial shock.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Slytherin.” Albus’ roommate said. They had all been really excited about him, and almost every student had rushed to ask him to be his roommate. “We have a bad reputation, but we are trying to get better! And what better way to get better than having a Potter?” The boy put an arm around his shoulder and gave him a firm hug as emphasis. Albus winced, but didn’t pull away. He was trying to be as polite as possible.

“Yeah, too bad that the plague seems to follows us, anyway…” Another Slytherin girl approached the group and sat next to Albus. She looked very pointedly at Scorpius.

Scorpius Malfoy was sitting alone in the front row of the class, and he was silently reading a book. Albus noticed that it was the same one had on the first day at the Express.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Albus’ roommate continued. “My dad says that he can’t believe how they can show their faces around here after what happened... It’s shameful.”

Rose nodded at him. “My dad says the same.” She said.

“Do you guys share a dorm with him?” The girl next to him asked, not bothering in being quiet.

“Oh, no.” Albus’ roommate said quickly, appealed by the idea. “Can you believe? Having Voldy’s son as a roommate?”

Everyone laughed, included Rose, and Albus couldn’t help but get mad at her. He was hopping she would be better than them, but she was acting like a complete bully. He thought of saying something, but the teacher entered the room and everyone rushed to their sites.

Luckily, the class went on faster than he expected, and Albus followed his classmates, picked up his bag and walked out the classroom. He’d barely made it through the door when heard a bunch of laughs behind him. He turned around, his self-consciousness kicking in and making him think they might be laughing about him. However, he noticed a group of Slyhterins talking very loudly. They walked past Scorpius Malfoy and shoved him away, making him hit the nearest wall. The boys laughed louder, and Albus frowned.

“Albus!” He turned around startled and saw his roommate standing next to the same Slyhterin girl. He really needed to start remembering everyone’s names. “Are you gonna miss lunch, or what?”

He turned again to look at the Slytherins laughing at Scorpius, who was now clutching his bag and walking away as quickly as he could without actually running. His roommate called him once more, and Albus turned back.

“Yes, I’m coming.” He said, and hurried to follow them to the great hall.

(…)

The Slytherin dorms were already empty, and Albus had been sitting on his bed for about fifteen minutes. The letter he had received from his parents still on his hands, unopened.

He had written them as soon as he was sorted, but apparently they had taken their time to answer.

Albus sighed and opened the letter.

“Al,  
We are happy to hear about your excitement about Hogwarts. First year can be quite scary, but we trust you to be responsible and make the right choices.  
Rose wrote us, too, and she seems to be happy despite the recent events. We know that you are a good person, and will always be despite anything. Just remember to keep close to the right people and don’t get in trouble.  
We hope to hear about you soon.  
Have fun and study lots,  
Love, mom and dad.”

Albus re-read the letter a couple of times. Short, generic, and with no mentions of his house. Just as he expected.

He sighed and dropped himself on his bed.

(…)

Scorpius entered the library holding his books close to his chest. He looked around, trying to find and empty spot, but all the tables were taken.

He weighed his options and finally decided to approach a group of students, but only managed to make a couple of steps before they all turned to look at him and give him a nasty look. He sighed and turned around, and decided to approach a girl sitting alone at a smaller table. She looked up at him, and as soon as she noticed him, she picked her bag up the floor and put it on the chair next to her.

Scorpius sighed once again, and finally settled for sitting on the window seat. It wasn’t big enough to fit his books and clearly wasn’t meant to write an assignment on, but it was better than the floor or the loud common room.

He just managed to find a comfortable position, and was about to open his book, when he noticed someone entering the library.

“Albus! Hey, Potter! Over here!” Albus Potter was walking with one of their classmates, and the group of Slytherins closer to him were calling him over.

Albus smiled shyly and walked over them. The other students seemed to be thrilled to have him.

Scorpius couldn’t help but focus on the group of students. They were all smiling and working together, and he couldn’t help the pang of jealousy he felt. He turned his attention to Albus Potter. He thought about how everyone in Slytherin seemed to be in love with the fact that Albus Potter was one of them, once they had gotten over the initial shock.

Albus Potter had it so easy, he thought. Everyone loved him and his family.

Though, Scorpius couldn’t really get mad at him. Albus seemed like a nice person, and so far he had been the only one at Slyherin to not laugh at him or make any hateful comment. In fact, he didn’t seem to be disgusted by Scorpius as everyone else did, if only by the mere fact that he seemed to be rather indifferent to Scorpius' overall existence. 

If he had to be honest with himself, he had actually considered talking to him. He didn't have many (or rather any) options to make friends, and Albus seemed like the only approachable one. Just approachable, nothing else, because his indifference was the kindest response anyone had given at Scorpius presence at Hogwarts.

But then, he had thought, there was the chance that Albus Potter was just being polite. He did seemed in fact very reserved and quiet, so maybe he just didn’t like confrontation. There was the possibility that he hated Scorpius just as much as everyone else, but he just wasn’t as vocal as the others.

Scorpius looked at him. Everyone at the table was murmuring excitedly and sharing notes, but Albus seemed to be focused on his work and barely smiling politely at everyone. He remembered hearing that Albus Potter was a bit difficult, almost sulky, but Scorpius though he seemed nice enough. He couldn’t remember a time Albus Potter had looked at him like he had a contagious disease.

Suddenly, as if at queue with his thoughts, he remembered the first day at the Hogwarts Express, and how Albus had noticed him and immediately turned around. Scorpius deflated at the memory. Maybe he was polite, but that didn’t mean he was going to approach Scorpius. Given their families history, Albus Potter probably hated him as much as everyone else. Probably even more.

The group of students laughed out loud and the librarian hushed them. Scorpius turned back to his homework and wondered if he would ever be part of a group of friends.

(…)

Albus turned around the corridor. The first month of class was barely finishing and he was already late to class for the second time. He needed to do something about it, he couldn’t keep on like that.

He was rummaging through his bag, checking that he hadn’t forgotten any book, when he suddenly crashed into someone.

“Sorry.” He said, and looked up. His eyes widened in shock as he realized who it was. He then cringed internally at his own reaction.

Scorpius Malfoy looked back at him, also startled by the collision.

“Albus!” He looked behind Scorpius and noticed his roommate, Douglas. “Come on mate, you are late as hell!”

Albus gave Scorpius a quickly glance and nodded, before picking up his bag and running towards his roommate.

“I’m late? What about you?” He murmured.

“Whatever, move your ass.” Douglas responded.

Albus rolled his eyes and followed him. Before turning on the next corridor, he caught Scorpius still looking back at him.

(…)

The Slytherin common room was loud, but not as loud as his house, Albus thought, plus he did in fact loved the couches. They were big and comfortable.

His classmates were currently talking about something that Albus guessed was gossip. Those who said that gossip was a ‘girl thing’ and that boys talked about smarter stuff were completely wrong, Albus noted.

Speaking of girls, Olivia Millan, one of his classmates, suddenly sat next to him, taking him out of his thoughts. “Zooning out again?” She said.

Albus let out a small laugh, which was more of a huff, and ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, a bad habit, I guess.”

Olivia smiled at him and bit her lip, as if she was looking for a topic to start the conversation. “So, I heard that you are not interested in Quidditch?” She finally commented.

“Oh, yeah.” Albus said. “I don’t get along with brooms…”

“Hm… Pity…” She shrugged. “Well, it’s still first year. You might change your mind.”

Albus decided not to mention that he had never liked Quidditch anyway, and settled for a generic answer. “Yeah, I guess. It could be nice.” It was a thing he started doing a lot recently, being generic. It helped him remain unnoticed in the group.

“Oh, it would be more than nice!” Douglas said, joining in. “Can you imagine? Harry Potter’s son in the team!” Albus cringed. “I heard he was an amazing Seeker. You must have it in you, too!”

“My mom was a professional Quidditch player.” Albus said, offended.

“Oh, right!” Though his roommate didn’t seem to notice that he was uncomfortable, and only smiled even wider. “Even better then, you need to try!”

Albus sighed. “Yeah, I’ll see.”

“Harry Potter was amazing at Quidditch, my dad played against him.” Another boy added. “He says that he could have been a professional player if he had wanted.”

“Well, I’m glad he decided not to. I feel quite safe knowing that he is the head of the auror department. I can’t imagine anyone else in his place.” Olivia said.

Albus rolled his eyes. He loved his father, he truly did, but he wished everyone would shut up about him just once. He just wanted to have a normal talk with his friends without them idolizing his family.

He wished everyone just treated him normally. 

(…)

Scorpius rewrote his letter for the million time. He had been sitting next to the owls for hours. They were a nice companion, despite the smell of the Owlery. He finally read his letter for the last time. He sighed.

To be fair, it was not a complete lie. He did like Hogwarts. He just didn’t like the people in it. And it wasn’t a lie that he had someone to talk to, he had the teachers, they were nice to him. Well, most of them were… or some of them.

It wasn’t that far off, he just avoided the bad things and wrote in the good things, which was actually a normal thing to do. And well, maybe he did not mention that everyone hated him, but he didn’t say that they loved him, so he wasn’t lying.

He read the letter once more. He sighed. It was a complete lie. He wasn’t fine. He wasn’t enjoying his time at Hogwarts. Why did everyone hate him? Well, he knew why, and he kind of expected it even. But he’d also hoped that at least one person would just talk to him instead of treating him like a monster.

He didn’t realize he had started crying until one owl scooted closer to him.

“You do like me, right?” He told the owl while wiping his tears away. The owl pocked him with its small peak. “Who am I kidding, you just want food, right?” He said with a smile as he reached into his pocket and offered it another treat. “That’s fair for me.” He gave the owl one last pat on the head and sent the letter anyways. 

(…)

The start of his second year made Albus more optimistic, but he soon enough realized that nothing had really changed.

“Hugo has been talking about Hogwarts all summer!” Rose smiled. “I told him he has to wait just another year.”

“Yeah, Lily was the same.” He dodged a couple of students as he walked. “She is nervous about what house she will be in…”

“Oh, she will totally be in Gryffindor!” Rose said, without noticing that she made it sound as if it was the biggest relief ever. Not noticing how it made Albus feel like they still pitied him for being in Slytherin.

Not noticing how Albus would have been happy to have Lily in the same house as him.

(…)

One of the good things of the second year was Care of Magical Creatures. Albus had been excited to hear they had changed the curriculum a few years ago and now they had the class as one of the basic ones.

Albus liked the teacher, despite him being a bit weird. But most importantly, he loved the Magical Creatures.

Animals were much easier to be around than people. They didn’t care about his famous family or his famous dad, and they didn’t care if Albus was awkward or moody. Albus loved animals, and they seemed to love him back.

He was waiting for the teacher to join the class, and almost let out a squeak when the teacher came in with a bunch of baby Demiguises.

“Merlin, they are cute!” A bunch of girls exclaimed.

“Where did you get them?” Albus asked, curious.

The teacher smiled at the excited group of students. “I’m glad you like them. Their parents died due to a fire at the refuge, and they were giving them away to people capable of taking care of them until they could reconstruct their habitat. And of course I volunteered.” He set the box on the floor with a proud smile. There were about nine or ten small animals. “I thought it might be a good chance to introduce you guys to them.”

“They look like little old men.” A student said, and everyone laughed.

“Don’t they turn invisible?” Albus asked.

“No, not yet.” The teacher answered. “It’s an ability they have to develop and train, much like you guys and your magic.” The small animals jumped out of the box. They were about the size of a football ball, a muggle game Albus used to play with his dad when he was younger.

The students hoarded around the animals, and carefully picked them up. The teacher instructed them to form small groups to work with the animals and everyone started to do so. 

Albus’ group was currently trying to calm down a very excited Demiguise. He smiled at the animal while his classmates cursed at it, not managing to get it to stop nibbling the hand of whoever tried to touch it. Albus decided to turn around to see how the others were doing, and suddenly noticed something.

They were about five Demiguises left, and they were all over Scorpius Malfoy. He seemed to had been tackled by them, and he was now struggling to sit up. One of the babies was currently on his shoulder and trying to climb to his head.

“Hey, hey buddy don’t do that.” Scorpius was laughing, trying to pick the small animal. “You are going to fall if you do that.”

The other Demiguises were climbing over him, one was very interested in the sleeves of his sweater and was pulling it.

“Okay, everyone calm down.” Scorpius laughed. Despite the attack, he seemed to be amazed by the creatures. He finally managed to get the one on his head and was currently holding it on his lap while the other ones tried to fight for a spot. “I can’t deal with all of you!” He said with a smile. His hair was sticking up in all directions because of the animals, but he didn’t seem to care. He was blushing and smiling as he petted one of the babies, trying to calm it down. He seemed truly happy with the animals, and Albus smiled unconsciously at the image.

“Scorpius Malfoy, the Demiguise Trainer.” One of the students suddenly exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at Scorpius. “Found yourself a girlfriend, Malfoy?” The other students laughed, and Scorpius’ smile instantly dropped. So did Albus', who turned his attention back to his own group. The same student continued talking through the laughter of the others. “I knew your family likes to resort to desperate methods, but that seems low even for you.”

Scorpius put the animals down and stood up slowly, but everyone kept on laughing.

“Okay, everyone formed a group already?” The teacher came back with a bunch of boxes filled with food. The rest of the students quickly picked the animals up and Scorpius took a step back, looking at the different groups. Everyone seemed to be actively avoiding him.

“Come on Malfoy.” The teacher sighed. “Help me with this boxes.”

Scorpius nodded, and everyone let out muffled laughs. Albus wondered if he should have said something.

(…)

One of the good things about lunch, Scorpius thought, was that despite being alone, everyone was too busy eating their own lunches so no one usually cared to bother him. He was currently eating in silence while looking around the great hall, since he had already finished his current book that very morning. Suddenly, the group of students closer to him began to laugh loudly, and Scorpius turned to them. 

Before he could spot anyone in particular, he noticed Albus Potter sitting along with the group. He didn’t appear to be paying attention, since he was currently playing with his food, apparently too lost in his own thoughts. He seemed to be always zoning out. Scorpius wondered what he would be always thinking about.

To this day, Albus had yet to ever make fun of Scorpius, and it was something Scorpius had noticed. No one was ever nice to him, so he noticed when someone was. Scorpius had in fact, somewhere back in first year, made a point of paying attention to which student would sneer or laugh at him, if only to rule out possible friendship options. It hadn’t worked out too well, and had only made Scorpius self-steam drop to the floor (if it hadn’t already been there) but it had at least worked to prove his theory that Albus Potter seemed, at the very least, not a hundred percent repulsed by his presence at Hogwarts.

He glanced at Albus again. Because of his own little experiment, Scorpius never thought about approaching anyone, having confirmed first hand that everyone that didn’t bully him was very much willing to play along with the bullies. As a result, he was either intimidated by his classmates, or he simply disliked them. But he didn’t dislike Albus, and he wasn’t intimidated by him either.

Scorpius once again gave him a quick glance. Albus was sitting on the opposite side of the table that Scorpius was sitting, and despite being a bit far away, Scorpius thought that he could be able to make a comment and still pass it off as something casual. 

But, Scorpius thought before he did anything, there was still a chance that Albus would look at him like he was a weirdo. He reminded himself again that the fact that Albus Potter was polite didn’t mean that he liked Scorpius. He remembered once again the way Albus had turned around when he had noticed him on the first Hogwarts Express. He had made it clear that he wasn’t interested in talking to him, and Scorpius had enough humiliation from part of his classmates to now make a fool of himself in front of everyone. He was not going to take the risk.

He decided to keep on eating in silence.

(…)

Scorpius didn’t receive many letters. In fact, he only ever received letters from his parents, so when the owl dropped a letter in front of him on a cold winter morning, he was already expecting it to be from them.

What he didn’t expect was a letter from his dad, telling him that his mom had gotten worse.

Scorpius swallowed hard and folded the letter. He looked around the great hall, and for once, the weight of being truly alone hit him.

(…)

There were many things that Albus didn’t like about himself, but the fact that all of his classmates seemed to be growing faster and taller than him was probably the top one.

He stood on his tip toes, trying to reach a book from the tallest shelves, and miserably failed to do so. He sighed and tried on more time, not willing to give up, when suddenly another hand appeared from behind him and reached for the book.

Albus turned around and was surprised to see Scorpius Malfoy handing him the book. He took it in silence, not sure of what to say, or if he should say anything at all.

“Albus, we are leaving already.” Olivia called him. She seemed to notice Scorpius, and arched an eyebrow.

Albus already hated Hogwarts enough, and the last thing he wanted was his friends hating him because they thought he was now hanging out with Scorpius Malfoy. His father was already disappointed enough with him being in Slytherin, he didn’t need more drama.

He gave one last hesitant glance at Scorpius and left.

(…)

During the rest of his second year, arriving late started to become a habit for Albus, and he wasn’t really proud of it. Luckily enough, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet thistime.

Albus took his usual seat next to one of his roommates at the back of the class. He would usually sit with whoever was still alone when Albus arrived at the class, since he didn’t’ care about having a designated desk partner and didn’t know if he should care either. It wasn’t like it mattered either, since he was usually arriving late or just in time for his class, and then proceeded to work in silence until it was time to leave.

This time, however, it was one of those days he made it in time to catch some of his classmates' conversation. As soon as he sat down, he noticed that everyone was laughing.

“…and you would think that for being Voldemort’s son, he would have more character, but he is as bland as bowl of oatmeal.” His classmates laughed. Albus frowned. Scorpius wasn’t listening, but Albus still thought it was unnecessarily rude.

“Man, how gross would it be to fuck Voldy?” Someone asked, and everyone groaned at the mental image. 

“Come on guys, you know that rumour is stupid.” Albus said. Everyone looked at him.

“Why defending him, Potter?” Douglas tried to sound defying, but he was trying not to laugh.

Albus rolled his eyes. “He isn’t bothering anyone, that’s all.”

“Oh, he is bothering me.” The girl next to him said. “His family bothers me. His family, his father, and what he did.”

“Well, he is not his family.” Albus pointed. His roommate let out a sarcastic huff. “Look, all I’m saying is that he always keeps to himself. I don’t know why you guys care so much.” Albus shrugged, and hoped to not be overstepping. He really didn’t know if he should get in an argument with his only friends for a boy he didn’t really know.

“Your parents were also keeping to themselves, but that didn’t seem to stop any Death Eaters.” Douglas added.

“I don’t remember my family asking you to defend their honor.” Albus snapped.

The group fell quiet, until Olivia laughed.

“Oh, I don’t think he has it in himself to seek revenge. Too good for his own sake.” They all laughed with her, and Albus turned around and started to look for the right chapter in his book, just to ignore them.

“Well, I do think he is Voldemort’s kid. It seems totally plausible, if you ask me.” One of his classmates added, and Albus sighed loudly.

(…)

Scorpius didn´t like Hogwarts in general, but he liked certain things. For example, he liked walking around the Hogwarts’ grounds. It was a good way to avoid people, and he enjoyed the sound of the birds and the soft wind in his face.

That was why, whenever he had any free time, he usually found himself outside or at any desert part of the castle. He had found out quickly that walking around was better than staying alone in one place, since it reduced the chances of any bully finding him.

He didn’t know for how long he had been walking, but finally reached the lake, and sat a few meters away from everyone.

The sun was setting, and the lake looked almost golden. Sometimes he did like Hogwarts.

He turned his attention to the students around the lake, and noticed Albus Potter next to his usual group of friends. He was throwing pebbles at the lake, and was surprisingly making them skip three times before they sank. Scorpius smiled at his achievement. Albus seemed to be doing it effortless, and he looked really cool.

Everything about him looked really cool, Scorpius thought. He was next to his big group of friends, laughing along some dumb joke. The light that reflected from the lake made him look as if he was glowing, and his movements were smooth and graceful.

Scorpius was anything but graceful, he would probably throw the rocks directly to the bottom of the lake.

Albus Potter was cool. A bit moody and introverted, everyone said, but Scorpius knew that everyone also thought he was ‘mysterious’ and ‘charming’. It wouldn’t be long until he got a girlfriend. He wasn’t crazily popular though, but everyone seemed to have a positive opinion of him. Heck, even Scorpius did.

Scorpius looked at him as he threw another pebble and made it skip four times on the water. Albus Potter was cool, why had he ever thought that someone like him would have the interest of talking to Scorpius?

(…)

Albus noticed many things at the start of his third year, the first one being that Scorpius Malfoy wasn’t around. Not because he paid special attention to him, but because everyone was talking about the same thing.

“I heard that his mother died.” Rose commented to him.

Albus heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“I think she was ill.” Rose said, and despite everything, she seemed to feel bad.

“I had no idea.” Albus said.

“I knew a bit…” She confessed. “My mom was aware of it, but my dad never likes it when she mentions them, the Malfoys I mean, so… so I never heard much.” They reached the Great Hall and she remained silent. Albus wondered what she was thinking. “Anyway, Lily and Hugo are getting sorted, aren’t you excited?”

Albus was startled by the change in topic. “Ah, yes. I am.” He said, though he couldn’t stop thinking about Scorpius. “They will both get into Gryffindor, I’m sure.”

(…)

It turned out that Lily was indeed sorted into Gryffindor, but Hugo was put into Hufflepuff. Albus noticed that no one seemed to be mad at him, which only confirmed Albus the fact that they only acted the way they did with him because he was in Slytherin specifically.

They were now all sitting outside on the stone steps that led to the grounds, having dumped breakfast to make an improvised family gathering. He was sure that the big loud group was surely catching everyone´s attention.

“I knew you would make it, Lils. Dad is going to be so happy!” James exclaimed. Albus tried not to feel bad at the comment, and focused on Lily’s achievement. Everyone was currently hugging Lily, and he tried to join them in their excitement, but he couldn’t keep the smile on his face when Lily read the letter their parents had sent her that morning.

They hadn’t told Albus that they were proud, and they hadn’t warned Lily to be a good girl like they had with Albus. At least they could pretend a little better that they didn’t have favourites.

Albus left the group, and he wasn’t surprised that no one noticed his absence.

(…)

Albus was surprised a few weeks later when he entered the Great Hall for breakfast. Scorpius Malfoy was sitting on his usual seat, and no one seemed to be trying to hide the fact that they were looking at him and murmuring.

He walked to his usual seat at the table and looked at Scorpius. He looked terrible, and Albus felt a knot on his stomach. He was paler than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

Albus weighed for a second the idea of approaching him, but thought that it might be hypocritical. Scorpius might not be in the mood to deal with people that had never approached him before, or even bullied him.

Albus decided to mind his own business and focus on his breakfast.

(…)

Scorpius was sitting on Owlery, petting his owl. He knew that he wasn’t okay, but he didn’t want to worry his father or stay home any longer. At least here at Hogwarts he could distract himself. He knew that he had two weeks of homework to catch on, and he was fairly excited to focus his mind on something else.

He finally attached his letter to the owl and sent her away.

He had been alone his entire life, but right now he wished he had someone to at least talk to. He looked at the owl as she flew away, and took a moment to take in the empty Owlery. He allowed himself to cry for the first time in weeks.

(…)

Albus was finishing his lunch later that week when he noticed two Hufflepuff girls approaching the Slytherin table. He looked at them, and saw that they were walking up to Scorpius, who was currently about to leave the table.

He wasn’t able to hear what they were saying, be he noticed that Scorpius smiled at them.

It was probably the first time he had seen him smile in a long time, and he couldn’t help but feel happy for him.

(…)

Since his mom died, Scorpius was writing more regularly to his dad, mostly because he didn’t want him to feel alone at home, but also because he now realized how small his circle was. His father was the only thing he had left, and the idea scared him, but also made him appreciate his dad a lot more.

That was the reason why he was now walking to the Owlery for what it felt the hundredth time this semester. As he took the last steps on the stairs, he noticed that someone was already there.

Cautiously, he approached in silence to see who it was. He wasn´t in the mood to deal with any bullies.

But to his own surprise, he saw Albus Potter petting an owl Scorpius guessed was his.

“Oh, yeah, you are a good girl, aren’t you?” He was using a soft voice, and Scorpius couldn’t help but smile. “You are the best owl in the world, I bet you know it…” He was feeding her, and the owl seemed happy to be with him. Scorpius stayed behind the nearest wall and watched the scene unfold. It was probably a creepy thing to do, but he couldn’t help it.

“That’s it, good girl.” Albus reached to scratch its head, and the owl hooted in response. Albus smiled softly at the animal, his eyes crinkling with fondness.

Before he could help himself, Scorpius realized that he had been staring at the boy. He composed himself, and looked at the letter he was meant to send. He wondered if his father realized that he was the only person Scorpius talked to.

He looked back at Albus. Albus Potter was nice, he thought, he had friends and a very big family with siblings and cousins. Scorpius couldn’t help but feel jealous. Albus Potter had a perfect life.

Scorpius looked at the letter in his hand and decided to come back later. He gave one last glance at Albus, and left.

(…)

Albus counted his ingredients once more. He didn’t know what potion they were going to make, but he knew it had to be something special. They had been working the entire semester on their Herbology classes to grow and collect the needed ingredients, so it was a big project.

He was actually really excited, since they had been preparing for this class for a long time.

“Quickly, come on, hurry up.” Albus heard his classmates murmuring. “Come on, he will come back soon!” He frowned and looked at the other students. Everyone was murmuring and laughing, even the Ravenclaws students they shared potions classes with.

He couldn't understand what was happening until Scorpius arrived and walked up to his table. Albus heard his classmates snickering. Scorpius let out a long sigh and looked back at the rest of the class while they all tried to hold their laughs. 

“Where are my things?” Scorpius finally said, and everyone bursted in laughter.

Albus couldn’t point it, but there was something in Scorpius’ face that seemed to show how defeated he was. His gaze dropped and he turned around without saying anything. Apparently, Scorpius reaction was extremely funny to everyone, even the most reserved Ravenclaws.

Albus turned to Scorpius, who looked almost on the verge of tears. Albus realized just then that more than the idea of failing the project, it was probably the fact that everyone was against him that must have humiliated Scorpius the most.

It was unfair, Albus thought, and unnecessarily cruel. He frowned, looked at his own ingredients, and made and instant decision. He took out his cutting board, determined, and divided all his ingredients in half. He put them on the board, to use it as a carrying tray, and walked over to Scorpius.

His classmates looked at him confused, and slowly one by one seemed to realize what he was doing.

“What the fuck, Albus?” Olivia called him from the back of the class, and Scorpius turned to look at him.

He heard a bunch of them protesting, but he ignored them as he set his board on Scorpius table. “Here.” He said, putting the ingredients next to Scorpius’ cauldron. “They are not the best,” He continued “… since I’m not that good at Herbology, but they should work.” He looked up to Scorpius, who was staring at him completely baffled and disoriented. Albus offered him a small smile, before returning to his own table.

He heard everyone groaning, but he ignored them.

“Ugh, Albus, it was a prank. You didn’t need to ruin everyone’s fun.” His roommate groaned. He seemed annoyed, but didn’t seem to take it personal either. No one seemed actually angry at him, Albus noticed with relief. They sounded mostly annoyed.

Before he could return his attention to recounting his ingredients, he heard a girl behind him murmuring to Olivia. “Yeah, I heard Harry spared Draco Malfoy from Azkaban. I don’t think they have it in them to hurt anyone…”

Albus squeezed his wand so hard he was worried he might break it. He didn’t know what annoyed him the most: If it was the constant idolization of his father, or the implication that Albus had some kind of hero complex, when in reality all of them were just acting like assholes.

(…)

Later that same day, Albus found himself alone at the library. He was trying to catch up with some homework, when he noticed someone approaching. He looked up and saw Scorpius Malfoy standing in front of him. He looked nervous, and was clutching a big book to his chest, his knuckles almost white.

“I…” Scorpius opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly shut by Rose, who sat very loudly next to Albus.

“You won’t believe what James did!” She exclaimed exasperated. She seemed to notice Scorpius just then, and turned to look at him. “What do you want?” She asked abruptly. Scorpius stared at her, confused. At his silence, Rose arched an eyebrow, more exasperated. “Hello? We are trying to have a talk here?” She gestured between Albus and herself with her hand. 

Scorpius turned a very deep shade of red, and gave Albus a quick glance before turning around and leaving the Library.

Rose rolled her eyes. “Weirdo.” She muttered, and even though Albus knew that she didn´t mean anything by it, at least not in the same way that the rest of his classmates did, he still frowned at her words.

“You didn’t have to be so rude.” Albus said, finally looking away from where Scorpius had been standing.

Rose looked at him confused and rolled her eyes again, before quickly changing the topic and telling him about James. Albus decided to drop the topic. Arguing with Rose never led anywhere, and he was still trying really hard to have a good relationship with his family anyway.

While Rose was talking, however, he found himself wondering what Scorpius Malfoy had been meaning to tell him.

(…)

Faster than Scorpius realized, he was finishing his third year without ever thanking Albus Potter for what he did. It was never the right moment, or he never had the right words.

Albus continued to hang out with his friends, and Scorpius continued to be alone. It was something he was never fully comfortable with it, but he was getting used to.

By his fourth year he had come to peace with the fact that no one would ever approach him, and that trying to approach someone would never work. His life centred in doing his homework, talking to his father and taking care of his owl.

Another habit that had sneaked into his daily Hogwarts routine was staring at Albus Potter. It was stupid, and lame, but he did it anyway. Like right now, as he was trying to finish his History essay.

Albus was sitting in the library on the table across from him, and was biting his quill as he tried to concentrate. He looked cute, and it took Scorpius a long time to realize that he had been staring at his mouth for the last minute.

Scorpius shook his head and tried to get himself back to reality when he felt something on his cheek. He brought his hand up and touched it, and realized that he had smudged his face with ink from his quill. He tried to wipe it, but only managed to make things worse. He looked down at his fingers, which were now filled with ink too.

“Damn…” He murmured, standing up and trying to pick his stuff without getting ink everywhere. He was struggling to manoeuvre three books on his arms, fingers and cheek covered in ink, when he heard a small laugh. He looked up, and noticed that Albus looking at him and smiling. He immediately realized that Scorpius was looking at him, and quickly looked down.

Scorpius felt himself getting red, and picked up his stuff as fast as he could before walking away. Just before exiting he turned his head back, and caught Albus looking at him once again.

(…)

Albus knew that it was stupid to think that he had a crush on Scorpius Malfoy. For starter, he had never talked to him and he had no idea what he was like. But right now, as he stared at him across the Hogwarts’ grounds, he couldn’t find another logical explanation.

Scorpius was sitting with a couple of first year from Hufflepuff. As far as Albus had heard, since the start of fourth year Scorpius had been using his free time to tutor them. Some people said that it was pathetic that the only people that talked to him were the younger Hufflepuffs, but Albus thought it was actually really nice of him.

He also looked generally happier since he started to hang out with them. Albus guessed that it must be depressing to be all the time by yourself, so the change of panorama must have been welcomed. Right now, for example, Scorpius had a warm smile on his face as he talked to the younger students about History. Albus couldn’t help but smile too.

(…)

One of the best things to come out of his fourth year, Scorpius thought to himself, was that he now starting to talk more with the Hufflepuff students. He wasn’t really friends with any of them, but since he tutored the youngest ones, everyone from that house seemed to approach him more. It wasn’t much, but it was more than Scorpius ever had, and he was happy for it.

That was the reason he was excited to start his fifth year. Well, that, and the fact that he would get to see Albus again. 

He had yet to say a word to him, and it had been too long now to mention what he had done for him back in third year. Anyone would have probably forgotten about such a small thing that happened almost a year and a half ago, but the truth was that that day had clung on him until now. It was true that Scorpius had noticed Albus Potter way before that incident, but since that day he seemed to think about him almost every day. 

If he was being honest with himself, Scorpius thought that he might never muster the courage to talk to him, but he had also realized that he was happy by just looking at him.

It’s not that he had a crush on Albus Potter, that was stupid to think, but he also couldn’t help to feel that way sometimes. Like right now, as he was watching Albus play with his sister’s Pigmy Puff. He looked adorable as the small animal tried to hide in his messy hair.

A part of himself felt pathetic, though. He wondered if he only liked Albus because he had been nice to him. Maybe he only liked Albus because he thought that Albus might like him a little bit, and he was desperate for attention. But as he watched Albus smile warmly at the puffy animal, he couldn’t help but feel that it was more than that.

(…)

“A party?” Scorpius asked

“Yes, on the Hufflepuff common room.” The girl he was talking to was from Hufflepuff, and was currently on fourth year, a year below Scorpius. She was there because of her little brother, who Scorpius tutored. “You should come, everyone will be there.”

“I don’t think anyone would want me there…” Scorpius said.

“Oh, everyone would be too drunk to notice. Just go, grab a drink and look for us.” She pointed at her friend, who was standing next to her.

“It will be fun.” The other girl insisted, too.

“I’m not sure it would be a good idea…” He said.

The two girls sighed. “Yes it will! Just think about it, okay?”

It was later that night, when he was alone in his dorm, that Scorpius thought about it again. He had never been in a group of people that weren’t younger than him, much less had he ever been to a party.

Scorpius sat on his bed. His roommates weren’t in the dorms. They were probably already at the party. Scorpius sighed. He was almost 17 and had no friends, what other opportunity would he have to be invited to a party? He stood up and looked at himself in the mirror. What did he have to lose?


	2. 'it' or, 'what happened'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> scorpius goes to the party, and 'it' happens.

Albus didn't exactly hate parties. He didn't, in theory. It was just that he never seemed to enjoy them as much as everyone else always did. For example, right now he was standing close to the wall, looking at the group of people dancing at the centre of the room. He wasn’t having a bad time, if he was being honest, but he thought he would be having a better time sleeping or playing chess.

His friends were currently dancing, and he could spot Douglas snogging a girl on the other side of the room. Albus sighed. Why did they bother dragging Albus into this, if they were just going to leave him alone?

He took another sip out of his drink. It burned, but it was good. Fifth year had gone away in the blink of an eye, and they were already in the middle of the year. Albus thought that it was a good opportunity to get drunk before they had to worry about their exams.

He was thinking of grabbing another drink when his eyes suddenly followed two girls in Hufflepuff sweaters that were dragging someone across the room. They weren´t making that much fuss, but they stood out from the hoard of drunk students with their yellow outfits. He curiously payed attention to see who they were dragging around, and to his surprise, he noticed that it was Scorpius Malfoy.

Albus was aware that he had had one or two glasses of whatever he was drinking, but no one could deny that Scorpius looked good. He was wearing a pair of fitted black jeans and a baby blue sweater. His jeans were also cuffed, and he was wearing a pair of white muggle sneakers that Albus half wondered where he had gotten them from. He looked casual, but also really put together. He had to admit that Scorpius had style in a way that Albus didn’t.

He looked down at his own clothes. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and a dark blue hoodie he had stolen from James, so it was arguable a size too big. It wasn’t fashionable, and right now he was cursing himself for not choosing a better outfit. He self-consciously rolled up his sleeves, as if that would make it better.

It took him half of another cup to realize that Scorpius was also looking at him. He made eye contact with him, but Scorpius quickly looked down at his own drink. 

“Al, come dance!” Douglas called him from the dance floor. He turned his attention to him, and by the time he tried to find Scorpius again, he was already gone.

Albus sighed and reluctantly joined his roommate, who was significantly drunker than him. They had barely made it through one song when Albus spotted Scorpius again. It was by complete accident, Albus told himself, it wasn't as if he was actively looking for him.

He was standing close to the wall, holding his drink as if he were holding onto his life. He noticed that Scorpius made a move to talk to someone standing next to him, but the boy quickly walked away. From the distance, Albus saw Scorpius sighing and resting his back against the wall.

“Merlin, I love this song!” Polly Chapman, a girl from Gryffindor he had sworn to stay away since the moment she tried to give him a love potion in first year, let out a big loud cheer, and he found himself being dragged along a group of students into the middle of the dance floor.

Albus wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, but after what felt like hours he managed to escape. He looked down to his glass, which he hadn’t been able to get rid of, and noticed that he had spilled most of its content. 

“Great.” He murmured, and made his way through the sea of drunk students to grab another drink.

He filled his glass with something Albus hoped was firewishky, and decided to make his way to his friends. Or what was left of them at this point.

He was looking at the other side of the room, standing on the tip on his toes trying to spot someone, when he finally decided to give up. He turned around, and very awkwardly managed to crash into someone.

“Sorry, I wasn’t...” He looked up at the person in question. “Oh.”

Scorpius Malfoy looked at him, and he didn’t seem offended by Albus’ reaction, or the fact that he had almost spilled his drink all over him.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.” Scorpius said.

Albus was sure that it was the first time he had properly heard Scorpius’ voice. He had always heard him at the distance, always muffled my some noise or other students. He might have been a little drunk, but he thought he had a nice voice.

“Uh, thanks?” Scorpius said, looking at him confused and with his cheeks slightly pink.

“Fuck. Did I said that out loud?” Albus felt his own face burning. “I think I’m drunker than I’d thought...”

Scorpius let out a laugh, and Albus couldn’t help but smile at him.

“That’s the reason I barely finished this drink, I don’t think I know how to handle alcohol.” Scorpius smiled softly, casually avoiding eye contact.

“Oh, I cannot handle alcohol for sure.” Albus said. “But this parties are really boring if you don’t get drunk.” 

“That explains a lot...” Scorpius said, looking around at the room. “Guess I need another cup.”

“Well, you are gonna need more than one cup, given the state of the party.” Albus turned around, everyone was jumping and dancing like crazy, and other students were shamelessly snogging on various places around the room. 

Suddenly, the music changed to a significant louder song, which caused everyone to scream and try to sing along. “Merlin, I hate parties...” Albus murmured.

“What?” Scorpius looked at him.

“I said that I hate parties.” He repeated himself, louder this time.

“What?!” Scorpius leaned closer, and Albus laughed.

“I hate parties!” He almost shouted, and couldn’t help but laugh again.

Scorpius laughed too. “Me too! But this is my first party, so I can’t really compare it to anything!”

Albus barely managed to hear what Scorpius had said. “I can’t hear anything!” Albus yelled. “Wanna go to the kitchens?” Albus loved the fact that the Hufflepuff common room was that close to the kitchens, and thought it was probably the main reason why most of the parties were hosted there. Not only were the kitchens a great place to store contraband, but it also provided everyone a place to sneak to in case they needed a moment of peace, without the danger of being noticed by the professors.

Scorpius smiled at him and nodded. “Sure!”

They barely managed to sneak through the sea of people, and they had to push many drunk students out of the way, but somehow made it there.

“Dammit.” Albus murmured when they reached their destination. He looked down at his hoodie. “I hope this is just alcohol.” He took out of his wand, and managed to cast a half decent drying spell. “That will work.” He said proudly.

He looked up back to Scorpius, who was smiling at him. Albus guessed that Scorpius must have been drunk too. 

“I’m sure that they hid most of their reserves here, wanna look for them?” Albus said with a daring smile.

Scorpius blinked at him, before smiling again and nodding. “Sure, why not?” 

It took them a couple of minutes to find an unopened bottle of firewishky, which Albus raised as a trophy with a big smile. They opened the bottle and began to drink the content of it while they walked around the kitchen, looking around and seeing if they could find anything interesting.

“I could really use a sandwich right now.” Albus said, as he passed the bottle to Scorpius and opened a cabinet.

“I could use some pumpkin pastries...” Scorpius murmured, looking down at the content of some boxes.

Albus groaned. “Ugh. That sounds amazing.”

They finally settled for a bag of small biscuits that didn’t look too good, but was good enough for them.

“So… you come to parties often?” Scorpius said slowly after a moment, taking a drink out of the bottle and passing it to Albus.

They were leaning against one of the kitchen counters, lazily passing the bottle and occasionally eating the biscuits. “Sometimes, mostly because my friends drag me to them. I can only say no a couple of time before sounding like a complete antisocial.” Albus laughed. 

Scorpius hummed in agreement. “This is the first time I’ve been to one.” He said.

Albus arched an eyebrow, though he wasn´t nearly as good as Rose at facial expressions. “Why?” he asked.

Scorpius turned his head and gave him a ‘Really?’ look. He was a lot better at facial expressions than Albus. And Rose too, Albus noted.

Albus laughed. “Right, right. I forgot.” He took another sip out of the bottle and passed it. “So, I heard that you tutors some first years...”

Scorpius took another sip and looked down. “Ah, yeah...” He moved his finger around the mouth of the bottle, and Albus followed the movement of his finger. “They are nice, and it’s something to do, you know? I have a lot of free time...”

Albus nodded, understanding what he meant. “That’s nice.” He said, and received the bottle from Scorpius. “I don’t think I could ever tutor anyone.” He laughed. “I only ever helped my roommate with potions, but he is... he is quite something.” He took another sip. He could feel himself getting dizzy, but he liked it.

“What do you mean?” Scorpius grabbed the bottle and took another small sip.

“Oh, no. Please, you don’t want to hear about him. Or about any of my friends in general.” Albus laughed, and threw a biscuit into his mouth. They tasted sweet, but he couldn’t point the exact flavour. 

“I do, actually.” Scorpius said with a smile. It seemed genuine, but maybe it was the alcohol.

Albus smiled back. “Okay,” he said.

Albus was surprised at how easy talking to Scorpius turned out to be. He usually struggled to find the right words, or found himself feeling uncomfortable and judged by other people’s comments. But talking to Scorpius came out almost natural, as if their words and inputs matched together perfectly. Well, alcohol tended to fog someone’s judgement, Albus thought, so it was probably that.

Regardless, he began giving a general idea of why his friends were a pain in the ass, which quickly turned into the fact that they always tried to set Albus up with someone. He wasn’t sure how long they had been talking, but before he knew, half of the content of the bottle was gone.

“...and THEN she said that she fancied me, ME! Come on, we hadn’t even talk before! And a week later, guess what?” Albus made a pause to dare Scorpius to answer.

“What?” Scorpius asked with a smile, totally invested in the story.

“I found out that she had already asked my brother out before!” He finished, and took another swing of the bottle. “Talk about collecting Potters, eh?”

“Oh my...!” Scorpius burst in laughter, throwing his head back and grabbing his stomach. “The audacity!” 

“I know!” Albus said indignant. “I will never EVER date anyone, I swear!” He passed the bottle to Scorpius, who was wiping his tears. Scorpius was nice, Albus thought. He half wished the conversation would never end.

“Well,” Scorpius said. “At least you get asked out! People avoid me like I’m the plague.” 

Albus frowned and watched Scorpius take another sip. “That’s bullshit.” Scorpius lowered the bottle and looked at him. “You are really cool!” He exclaimed.

Albus could notice that Scorpius turned red, though to be fair, he was already flustered before. 

“Thanks...” He murmured, looking down. “I think you are cool, too.”

Albus smiled widely, and moved closer to grab the bottle from Scorpius’ hand. “I mean it.” Albus said, taking another sip. “The fact that no one realizes it is bullshit.” 

Scorpius stared at him as he took another sip. He couldn’t help but feel something at the way he was looking.

“You don’t really know me.” Scorpius commented softly.

“Well, we have been talking for a while, and I think you are cool.” Albus said.

Scorpius smiled shyly at him, and received back the bottle without saying anything. After taking a sip, he finally broke the silence.

“It’s true that people don’t treat me nicely, but...” Scorpius began. “It’s not like I’m that big of a deal anyway, not like you.”

“I’m a big deal?” Albus looked at him confused, almost offended.

“No, no” Scorpius hurried to say. “Well, yes. I mean, I mean that you are cool, but like really cool, not like, ‘cool’ just for the sake of saying it, you know? I mean properly cool.” Scorpius turned red and looked down at the bottle.

Albus blushed and stared at him. “Thanks, I guess.” He murmured. “But I’m not ‘properly cool’ ” He said, making air quotes to emphasize.

Scorpius frowned. “Yes you are. Everyone likes you-“, Scorpius started to list with his fingers.

“Everyone tolerates me.” Albus corrected.

“You have a big group of friends-“ Scorpius continued.

“And they are idiots.” Albus added.

“You are effortlessly cool-“ Scorpius carried on.

“Nothing about me is effortless.” Albus confessed.

“And you are incredible hot.” Scorpius finished.

“I’m not—what?” Albus felt his face burning.

Scorpius seemed to realize too late what he said, and turned even a deeper shade of red, if it was even possible. “I mean, that’s what I heard, you know?” He said quickly. “Everyone says so, and it’s not like no one notices anyway, I just-”

Albus smiled widely at him. “It’s okay.” He reached from the bottle from Scorpius, and used the movement as an excuse to lean in closer. “Thanks anyway.” Scorpius looked down at him as he inched closer.

Albus couldn’t tell if his mind was playing tricks, but he had a warm feeling inside of himself. His hand was still holding the bottle, but his body didn’t move back at all. It wasn’t like he could've if he had wanted anyways, because Scorpius had yet to let go of the bottle too. Or maybe he had. Albus couldn’t tell and couldn’t bother to check, because Scorpius was flustered, his eyes a little wild and his cheeks pink and Albus had never been this close to him before. Sure enough, he knew that Scorpius was attractive, but it was a completely different thing to appreciate it up close. 

He was sure that he was staring, but Scorpius didn’t seem to mind. He seemed too busy staring right back.

“I think I’m drunk.” Scorpius said, not taking his eyes of Albus.

“Me too.” Albus said.

There was a small pause, in which Scorpius barely managed to give him a small smile as a response before it fell flat again. His gaze was intense, and it made Albus feel something funny in his stomach.

“You are, though.” Scorpius said slowly. “You are really hot.”

Something snapped inside of Albus, and the next thing he knew, he was pressing Scorpius against the kitchen counter and kissing him hard on the mouth. Scorpius responded immediately, with a fastness that surprised even Albus, instinctively tangling his fingers on Albus’ hair, as if he had been waiting his entire life to do so. 

Scorpius tasted like firewishky and something Albus couldn’t quite tell but that liked so much that made him suppress a moan at the back of his throat. He bit Scorpius lip in retaliation, and the sound that Scorpius let out made Albus feel dizzier than he already was.

Something at the back of his mind was telling him that it was a horrible idea, that he should stop, but that rational part of his brain was already drowned down by the alcohol and Scorpius’ tongue as it slipped into his mouth.

Albus was sure that the firewishky was strong, but in that moment, he thought that Scorpius’ tongue was more intoxicating than any alcohol he had ever tried.

The kiss couldn’t have lasted more than a minute, but it felt like ages. They pulled back, gasping for air. Albus realized that his hands were clutching Scorpius’ waist, he hadn't even noticed moving his hands. He thought about moving them away, but the warm against his palms felt so nice that he couldn’t bring himself to do so.  
“Woah.” Scorpius said. His eyes were shiny, and his mouth was red.

“Yeah.” Albus said, breathlessly, taking in Scorpius’ face.

“You kissed me.” Scorpius seemed confused, but not disgusted.

“Yeah.” Albus repeated himself.

“Okay.” Scorpius said, as if he was trying to make sense of the situation. 

“Are you…?” Albus started. Maybe he had really overstepped. They had never talked before, and Albus was already jumping on him. Merlin he was still pressing the boy against the counter. He suddenly felt very aware of the lack of space between them, and made a move to pull back. “I’m sorry I shouldn’t have…”

“No!” Scorpius said quickly, grabbing Albus’ arm. He suddenly turned a deeper shade of red than he previously was. “I mean, it was okay.” He added. “But I understand if you…”

“No, no.” Albus said, suddenly very amazed by how Scorpius’ hand felt on his arm. “I wanted to.” He felt his face burning.

“Oh.” Scorpius looked at him with big eyes, as if the situation seemed impossible for him. “I also wanted to”

"You wanted to?" Albus said. The affirmation came out like a question, though he hadn't intended it.

"Yeah..." Scorpius answered sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. 

Albus just stared at him, somewhere between amazed and confused. His drunk brain struggled to capture the magnitude of the situation or the consequences. He could only focus on Scorpius, his pink cheeks, his slightly mused hair and rosy lips, which he was currently biting. 

Scorpius finally looked back at him, and smiled shyly. Albus felt his own smile grow bigger.

"What?" Scorpius asked, his smile now growing too. It was contagious, and Albus felt himself unable to suppress his grin. 

"Nothing." Albus shook his head. "You are just really pretty." He said, still smiling. 

Scorpius looked surprised, but he just laughed. "You are drunk." He said "You are drunk and you kissed me."

"Yeah." Albus simply said.

"This is so crazy." Scorpius sighed, a small smile still on his face, and turned his head to the celling. His hand was still clutching Albus' arm and he was now making lazy patterns with his fingers, making Albus shiver slightly at the feeling. "This is not how first kisses are described in the books." He laughed softly. 

Albus crocked his head. "It was your first kiss?" He asked with the same softness. They were still so close, and Albus felt as if speaking louder would be inappropriate. He could feel the heat radiating from Scorpius's body, and the faint smell of firewishkey in the air around them. Albus felt trapped in a small bubble, which consisted of the soft dim lights of the kitchens and the pair of soft grey eyes that were looking back at him. 

At his question, Scorpius blush intensified across his cheeks. "Yes...?" Albus noticed that Scorpius swallowed, a bit too focused on the movement of his throat. "Was it yours?" Scorpius added. 

Albus tore his eyes back at him, a small frown on his face "No" Scorpius seemed to deflate at the answer. "What?" Albus asked him. Was he that bad of a kisser?

Scorpius didn't answer right away, and Albus studied his face, trying to decipher what was on his mind. 

"No, nothing. Of course it wasn't your first kiss, that…that'd be stupid... dunno why I asked..." Scorpius was avoiding eye contact, and Albus felt anxious at the shift in the atmosphere. He wondered if Scorpius felt embarrassed. He had heard Douglas and his other roommates often talking about their romantic lives and how many girls they had snogged or managed to grope through their robes, but Albus never thought it was actually a big deal or much less something to revolve your life around.

It had never interested him, the entire topic of love and relationships. It's not that he wasn't curious, of course. He was, and that was actually the reason he had given in by the pressure of his peers and gone on dates with a couple of girls. He even very boldly snogged that Ravenclaw chaser in the dressing rooms at the end of last year, when he confessed having a crush on Albus. 

But his dates never ended in more than a few stolen kisses, and he also quickly found out that despite liking the experience of kissing boys more than girls, that he never actually liked the Revanclaw chaser, and he got bored of Albus after a week or so. But to be fair, Albus had also gotten bored of him too.

Albus realized that he hadn't answered when he noticed that Scorpius was still avoiding eye contact, and Albus felt the extreme urge of reassuring him.

"It wasn’t the first," Albus started quickly, "but it is probably the best kiss I ever had" he said. He didn’t knew if it was true, his head was foggy and he could still feel the buzz of the alcohol. But as Scorpius smiled shyly, finally making eye contact again, Albus' heart fluttered, and he felt like it could be the truest statement he had ever made.

"That's a lie" Scorpius chuckled, "but thanks" He smiled softly at Albus, not breaking eye contact, and Albus found himself yanking him down by the collar of his sweater and clashing their lips together again. 

It was definitely the alcohol, Albus thought, because it was way too messy and Scorpius had truly no technic at all and there was no way it could objectively qualify as a good kiss, but in that moment he thought there could not be a single person at Hogwarts that could out do Scorpius.

"No lies." Albus said after they pulled back, trying to regain his breath. "No lies at all" He murmured close to Scorpius mouth, their lips brushing against each other as he spoke.

The rest of the night passed through as a blur. Albus vaguely remembered Scorpius kissing him again, his hands clutching both of his cheeks with an intensity Albus had never experienced before. 

Albus' head was spinning, his entire senses where full of Scorpius, the taste of his mouth, his hands on his face, his body against his own, the smell of cologne and alcohol and the sound of their muffled breaths. 

Somehow Albus' hands found their way back to Scorpius' waist, holding there for support. But apparently Scorpius hadn't been doing much better in that matter, since they both ended giggling and stumbling across the kitchen, neither of them wanting to accept that they were maybe too drunk for the intensity of their kisses.

(...)

Before any of them had registered, they were both stumbling into the Slytherin common room, Scorpius' light blue sweater discarded somewhere along the way. Scorpius half reminded himself to get it back, somehow, from somewhere, because it was one of his favorites.

But before he could duel on it, Albus pushed him down on the closest armchair and quickly settled himself on his lap, returning to the very arduous job of finding out how many noises could he get out of Scorpius with his own mouth. 

"Wait..." Scorpius said, pulling away from the kiss. 

"Hmm?" Albus asked, turning his attention to Scorpius' neck. Without his sweater in the way, Albus had a whole new area to explore. And Scorpius couldn't complain.

"Someone..." Scorpius stared, but was quickly interrupted by Albus biting softly the skin at the base of his neck. "...Merlin..." He gasped, tilting his head back to make space for Albus.

"Everyone's at Huffelpuff's..." Albus murmured against his skin, trying to get his hands under Scorpius' shirt. If he was too eager, Scorpius had yet to notice. 

Albus' hands found his way across Scorpius' stomach, and his breath hitched at the unexpected feeling. He let out a gasp, entire overwhelmed by the new sensation.

Albus' touch was warm and heavy, and Scorpius felt the heat of it spreading along his entire body. His fingers softly gazed Scorpius skin, making him shiver. He wasn't used to this. No one besides his parents had ever really touched him, much less like this. Physical contact wasn't something Scorpius experienced. His mother had been the most open out of both of his parents, and after her death, Scorpius barely experienced a hug or a caress. His father just wasn't the type, even if he tried, and at Hogwarts he was even more alone.

So he didn't know if it was because of his lack of experience, or because he was touch starved, or maybe because Albus' touch was just intoxicating on its own, but he suddenly needed Albus to keep touching him, forever if possible.

Suddenly, just as he was getting used to the high of Albus' hands, Albus moved back to capture his lips. He couldn't help the noise that he made, and his hands moved along Albus’ back, clutching at his hoodie and pressing him closer and closer to himself. 

"Merlin..." Albus pulled back, gasping for air, his lips still centimetres away from his own. "Fuck," Albus breathed, "Your mouth... I-" He kissed him once again, and Scorpius found himself one hundred percent in agreement with whatever Albus had been trying to said.

His hands move lower on Albus back, urging him to get closer. Albus complied willingly, using the small movement as an excuse to depend the kiss and press his tongue into Scorpius' mouth.

Scorpius had never thought himself able of making the sounds he lout out, but as Albus pressed closer, his hands roaming higher and higher Scorpius' torso, he couldn't be bother to be embarrassed.

Everything felt like a dream. A dizzy, drunken dream. The common room was desert, the silence only broken by their ragged breaths and the soft noises that eventually left their lips. Albus smelled like mint and something Scorpius swore reminded him of the woods. His hoodie was extremely soft, and under it Scorpius could feel the frame of his body as he hugged and clutched at his back. 

Scorpius kissed back eagerly, letting Albus have the control of the kiss while he concentrated on not passing out by forgetting to breath. 

Then, it happened. Albus shifted the tiniest bit, just enough to align his hips with what Scorpius just realized, was his very own hard erection.

A groan escaped his lips and he broke the kiss, throwing his head against the back of the armchair as his hips involuntarily lifted to press against the sudden weight.

He felt mortified. Of course he would pop the most embarrassing erection just as he was snogging Albus Potter himself. He cursed at his own luck, not daring to open his eyes. He was very aware of the weight of Albus against him crotch and knew that Albus' could very well feel him too. 

But before he could apologize, Albus spoke.

"Fuck" he breathed, and Scorpius opened his eyes. Albus was looking at him intensely, his hands now at the sides of Scorpius' torso, holding himself steady. Albus kept his eyes on Scorpius, and very so slowly rolled his hips against Scorpius' erection. 

"Oh!" Scorpius gasped softly, shutting his eyes close. He tried and failed to keep his mouth as quiet as possible.

"Merlin" Albus said, in the same breathy voice as before, and Scorpius opened his eyes again. 

Albus was very close to him, his lips slightly parted and his breath coming out in short and soft pants that let Scorpius smell the faint trace of firewishkey. 

He looked wrecked, and Scorpius felt his guts clenching at the view. His messy hair was falling on top of his eyes, a few strands glued to his forehead with his sweat. His cheeks had a dark hue of red, and Scorpius could see that the color trailed all the way down his neck and down his hoodie. It should be illegal, Scorpius thought, to look that good. 

Scorpius finally looked up again to his eyes, and noticed for the first time how green they were. Of course, he had hear about them before, those famous green eyes. And he had seen them too. But he had never truly seen them before, not this close, not this intensely, not covered by Albus' messy and sweaty fringe as he looked down at Scorpius. He felt in a trance, like Albus could ask Scorpius for anything and he would give it to him right there and then.

And as if he had been reading Scorpius' mind, Albus spoke softly. "I want you so badly" He said, as if he hadn't just said the most ground-breaking sentence Scorpius had ever heard in his entire life.

He leaned in, and their noses rubbed softly, their breaths mingling together and making it very hard for Scorpius to think straight. 

And fuck, Scorpius thought, he wanted so badly. But what did he want? He didn't knew exactly, he just knew that he wanted it. Again, as if reading his mind, Albus moved his hips, and Scorpius had to clutch at his sides to not lose his own sanity.

His head was throbbing, but in the middle of the haze and the heat Scorpius managed to form one coherent thought. "The door..." He said, his lips once again brushing against Albus' as he spoke. Merlin, it was as if they couldn't break apart. "... someone... someone might come in..." Scorpius managed to say.

Albus' pulled back, and Scorpius instinctively clutched at his sides again, as if afraid Albus might get up and leave. Albus looked down at him, still close but not as close as before, and studied his face. 

Scorpius felt suddenly very naked. Albus seemed to be as drunk as he was, but Scorpius still had the impression Albus could read him like an open book. And maybe he could, it's not like Scorpius was the master of disguise. He was pretty shit at hiding his emotions, especially for a Slytherin. 

But maybe Albus wasn't either the cunning Slytherin that Scorpius had pictured, because after a moment under his intense gaze, Albus just mumbled "You are beautiful," as he reached to touch Scorpius cheek.

Or maybe he was. Fuck. Scorpius felt suddenly very very weak. 

His face must have betrayed how startled he felt, because Albus retreated his hands and looked away sheepishly. He looked back at the door, and then back at Scorpius, and lick his lips. Scorpius, as a reflex, clutched at his hips firmly, grounding him against him. 

"We could..." Albus started, and looked up at the direction of the stairs. The dorms, Scorpius thought. 

Scorpius head was pounding loudly, or maybe it was his heart, he couldn't tell. He could feel Albus weight pressing fully against himself. The pressure, combined by the heat radiating from his body, was enough to throw all of Scorpius caution out of the window. But as if the feeling and the heat wasn't enough, Albus was right there, looking as wrecked as Scorpius felt, and he was looking at Scorpius and telling him that he wanted him.

The most logical course of action would be waking up, because Scorpius was sure he just passed out at the party and this was all a dream. But he wasn't waking up, and Albus was waiting for an answer.

"I..." Scorpius started. It was surely a bad idea, Scorpius thought. What was he even agreeing too? Going up to the dorms and...? And what? He felt his dick reacting just at the mental image. Fuck. 

This was bad. He was drunk, and he had never done anything like this before. And Albus was drunk, and he would probably regret it in the morning. Or he would regret it five seconds after Scorpius humiliated himself, and then he would know that it was Scorpius' first time. But then again, Albus probably knew that Scorpius was a virgin, because he had already confessed not having kissed anyone before. And was this Albus' first time? Had he done this before? Scorpius guessed that he must’ve had, he seemed so sure and in control.

So this was bad. This was a bad idea. And even if he managed to not completely make a fool of himself and come in five seconds, Albus would probably still regret it when he sobered up. 

But then again Albus was looking at him, all flustered and sweaty and smelling like mint and alcohol and Scorpius thought, 'what if I never get this chance again?' If it weren't by the drunk courage and bad judgement he would've never been in this place to begin with. He had never even kissed anyone before. Heck, everyone still avoided him like he was the plague. 

He was almost 17, had no friends or social life. Everything pointed out to the fact that Scorpius would not be getting a chance like this any time sooner. 

But what mattered the most was that this was Albus Potter. Albus Potter, he reminded himself, and for the first time he admitted to himself that this was the boy he had been obsessed with since first year. He would never get a chance like this again, not with someone so out of his league, not with him. 

"We don't..." Albus started, embarrassed, when Scorpius had taken way too long with his thoughts.

And maybe it was the alcohol, or the adrenaline, or the fact that he had never been this hard in this entire life, but he found himself speaking before he had decided if it was the best choice. 

"My dorm." He interrupted him. Albus blinked at him. "My roommates, they never come back to the dorms after a party. Not until the morning." He explained. Scorpius was never invited to parties, so he had plenty of time spent on his dorm while his roommates sneaked out. And by this point he knew their habits by heart, if only because they secured him some time for himself.

Albus looked at him for a second, before the biggest grin appeared on his face. Before he could fully register it, Scorpius was pulled to his feet, the sudden shift in gravity reminding him he was drunker than he thought, and he found himself being dragged to the stairs.


	3. after it happened

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> after the events of the party, Albus and Scorpius have to lead with the aftermaths.

When Albus woke up in the morning, a few things hit him. The first thing was the pounding headache that resonated on his temples. He rubbed his eyes and swore to never drink again. He didn't get how James did it almost every weekend.

The second thing that hit him was that this was not his bed nor his dormitory. He could have been fooled, at first, since the fifth year boys' dormitories looked all the same. 

It wasn't always that Hogwarts had such a numerous amount of students that required more than one or two dorms per year, but it seemed like Hogwarts had become slightly more crowded over the years, especially now that the war was over. There were a total of five dormitories for Albus' year, two for the boys and three for the girls. Albus shared his dorm with four other boys, included Douglas.

But this wasn't his dorm, and the realization hit him as he tried to stir, only to bump into something. Or rather someone. 

The memories of last night quickly came back as he opened his eyes and found himself resting rather shamelessly over Scorpius Malfoy's naked chest.

'Shit', Albus thought, as he retreated his arm from where it had sneaked around Scorpius' waist. It was in that moment that he realized that he wasn't wearing a shirt either. He looked down scared, but noticed he was at least wearing his boxers. 

Albus rubbed his eyes through the fog in his head and tried to piece what had happened. 

The party, he noted. That he remembered clearly. He also remembered Scorpius standing there looking like a fucking dream. He remembered both them talking, then walking to the kitchens...

Albus groaned. He couldn't believe he had thrown himself at Scorpius like that. The memories kept flowing, and Albus found himself blushing miserably. 

He remembered dragging Scorpius to the dorms, Merlin, he had no shame. He had practically quite literally thrown Scorpius to his bed, while not breaking apart from his lips for one second. Albus couldn't believe he had been so shamelessly eager. In his defence, though, it was fair because he was drunk, and because he might have fantasized about Scorpius Malfoy more times that he'd allow himself to admit. And, come on, any teenager boy would have been eager to finally lose their virginity, especially with someone like Scorpius Malfoy himself.

Well, maybe not any teenager boy, at least not at Hogwarts, because everyone there was too stupid to realize that Scorpius Malfoy could put any veela to shame. 

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, the memories kept coming in. Albus remembered pressing Scorpius against the mattress, Scorpius' whines as Albus rutted his hips against his. Fuck. Albus felt his entire body getting hot. 

He turned around and looked down at Scorpius, who was still very much asleep. His pale blonde hair was completely mussed and dishevelled, but it still fell softly against his closed eyes as he breathed. He looked sound and peacefully asleep, so painfully beautiful that Albus wondered if he was in the presence of an angel. Something so innocent and beautiful looking had to be from other world.

At that thought, Albus half remembered Scorpius telling him he had never been to a party before. He also remembered maybe one or two comments about how he couldn't handle alcohol. The guilt began to creep in. Had he taken advantage of Scorpius? 

He looked down at the boy in question one more time. From his position he could see a few faint marks on Scorpius neck. Not quite hickeys, but the marks were there, contrasting against his pale and smooth skin. Albus rubbed his face. What now?

He turned around to look at the clock on the nightstand, the movement making his head throb and reminding him he was still hungover. It was fifteen to six in the morning. He looked around and noticed that the other beds were still empty. Should he wake up Scorpius? Would he be mad? Embarrassed? Would he hate Albus for taking advantage of his vulnerability? He had no idea. They had never even talk before. Albus realized that he knew nothing about this boy at all. 

Well, the damage was done. 

He stumbled out of the bed as softly as he could, and managed to retrieve his clothes without making much noise. Once he was done, he looked back at the boy laying in the bed. He had now turned around and was hugging his pillow, his entire back exposed as the sheets slid down his body. Albus blushed, trying not to think about last night. What would everyone said if they found out? His parents would kill him, the Daily Prophet and gossip magazines wouldn't give them a break. They would be the talk of the school and probably all wizard England. 

Albus found himself panicking. This was not only Scorpius, this was Scorpius Malfoy, the son of the most well-known ex-death eater and probably the most hated student at school. And Albus was one of the three kids of Harry Potter, the saviour of the wizarding world. Albus felt sick on his stomach, but this time it had nothing to do with the hangover. 

And this would be a lot worse for Scorpius. If he was being honest, Albus knew that he could get away with this. Everyone would be too quick to think that Scorpius, the evil dark wizard filled with resentment towards the wizard society, easily found his way into the bed of the misguided naive son of Harry Potter. 

But it hadn't been like that. In fact, it had been Albus Potter himself the one that dragged a very blushing and shy boy towards the dorms, as he stammered and babbled incoherent words of embarrassment. But no one would believe that, of course. And that version of the story would sell way fewer copies in the newspapers.

Suddenly, the sound of random noises and muffled voices startled Albus out of his thoughts. 

Whatever they needed to discuss could be done later, he thought. It was best for both of them if no one found them in this position and realized what had happened last night. He could apologize to Scorpius later.

Albus looked around, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything. He looked at Scorpius again. Should he leave a note? No, that would be too incriminating if someone found it. His dad had taught him too well about that. Plus, he had no idea where to find parchment or a quill right now. 

The noise up in the common room became louder. Albus sighed, and closed the curtains around Scorpius before leaving the dorm as quickly and quietly as he could. 

(...)

Scorpius woke up to the sound of his roommates entering the dorm. He was used to them not bothering on being quiet or having any consideration towards Scorpius whatsoever, but this time he cursed them a greater amount as a pounding headache resonated on his head. 

He threw his arm over his eyes, wondering what was this all about. Alcohol, Scorpius remembered. Suddenly, as if the word had triggered the memories, Scorpius sat up so fast that it made his entire brain spin as it adapted to the change in gravity. 

Scorpius shut his eyes for one second trying not to puke, and then opened them to look around the bed. 

It was empty, of course. Scorpius wondered if he had actually dreamed about what happened. He looked down, and noticed that he was practically naked, the bedsheets rumpled and the duvet half falling to the floor. Okay, maybe he hadn't dream it. 

He threw himself back to the pillows, his head throbbing in protest at the abrupt movements, and sighed.

His roommates kept making noise, throwing themselves on their beds and mumbling about incoherent stuff Scorpius couldn't piece together. 

His brain was racing as he remembered everything that happened. It had been... Scorpius blushed furiously. It had been amazing. His heart was racing as more vivid memories came back: the feeling of Albus' lips on his neck, his hands as they undressed him. Merlin, he had never experienced anything like that. If he closed his eyes, he could still feel the lingering touch on his skin. 

He found himself grinning like a madman, and brought his hands to cover his face to calm down. He took them away slowly, turning his head to the side. 

He slowly swallowed down his smile. Of course Albus had fled. It's not like he'd been expecting him to be there in the morning, and he was totally not feeling disappointed and sad. Because he had nothing to be sad about. He got himself a one night stand and that's more than he could have ever hoped for. 

But his eyes kept focused on the empty spot on the bed. He felt his chest constricting.

There was no way Albus would talk to him now. So much for the hopes of friendship, he thought. 

(...)

Later that day, Albus found himself trying to eat lunch, but not being able to stomach much. He was suddenly startled out of his misery when someone very loudly sat in front of him. 

"Rose?" He said, confused as to why she was at the Slytherin table.

"Where have you been?" She said as a form of greeting. "I didn't see you at breakfast."

"It's Saturday," he said, "And there was a party last night?" He wondered if Rose had any hangover potion, but he didn't want to submit himself into a sermon about alcohol and moderation and responsibilities. 

Rose rolled her eyes. "I know that, that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you!" Albus felt his stomach turning. "I can't believe you didn't invite me!" She finished.

Oh, right. He relaxed. 

"I didn't know you wanted to come," he simply said "and I wasn't planning on going, you know I don't like parties. Douglas and Olivia dragged me there and I ran away as soon as I had the chance." He kept it casual, trying to channel as much Slytherin he had.

"Of course you did." She sighed. It was then that the rest of his roommates started to appear. Olivia looked completely wrecked, and next to her was Douglas, who looked much more decent than he had expected.

"Some of us had Quidditch practice." He said, as an explanation. 

The conversation quickly turned into a gossip round about what had happened at the party, and Rose complaining about how she hadn't been invited when Polly Chapman had (she had never liked the girl since Albus told her about the love potion incident) Soon enough also began the not so subtle contraband of hangover potions, courtesy of the seventh year students, from which Albus immediately snatched one. 

It was just then that he noticed him, just as he was about to drink the potion. 

Scorpius Malfoy entered the great hall, casual clothes under his Slytherin robes and his satchel hanging from one shoulder. He made eye contact with Albus and visibly turned red. His pace slowed down, coming to a complete stop. 

They couldn't have held eye contact for more than a second or two, but Albus swore it felt like an eternity. In the morning light, without the effects of the alcohol, the enormity of what had happened hit Albus like a bucket of cold water. 

"Are you gonna drink that or can I have it?" Douglas was looking at him.

Albus tore his eyes away from Scorpius and blinked at his dorm mate.

"The potion mate, for fucks sake." Douglas rolled his eyes. As a response, Albus drank it straight in one go, and Douglas cursed something under his breath before turning his attention to Olivia.

Albus put the vial down, and spared one furtive look at Scorpius, who was now helping himself with a cup of tea. ‘How did he do it?’ Albus thought. He looked completely fresh, the only thing giving him away was the dark circles under his eyes, which contrasted relatively strongly against his fair skin.

“He was at the Party.” Olivia commented. Albus froze, and turned back to her.

“What?” He said.

“I saw him, I think Maddison and Emilia invited him, he tutors Madisson’s little brother.” She commented, carelessly buttering a piece of toast. 

“Merlin do you know everything that happens at this school?” Douglas asked, sounding both amazed and terrified.

“Well, I try.” She said, biting into her toast. “And it’s not that hard, words travel fast around Hogwarts.” Albus swallowed with some difficulty. “Anyways,” Olivia swallowed her mouthful of toast and continued. “I think he left quickly, didn’t see him afterwards. I think he got the memo that nobody wanted him there.”

Despite the hurtful comment, Albus sighed in relief, because that meant she hadn’t seen them. But he wondered if someone else had. He wondered if he should care anyways. He didn’t, in all honesty, but the unnecessary commotion and disappointed, concerned looks from his parents and family was something he would very much like to avoid for now. 

He glanced back at Scorpius, who was now still silently sipping his tea. Albus bit his lip, wondering if Scorpius would look back at him. Albus wanted to say something, but he was also terrified at what could happen.

Scorpius lifted his cup to his mouth and took a sip, his tongue darting out slightly to lick at his lips. Albus wondered what it’d be like to kiss Scorpius mouth, and if he’d be able to taste the flavor of the tea on his lips. Albus felt all the blood rush to his face, and to places he would rather not acknowledge at that moment, and abruptly looked back at his table.

“Are you okay?” Rose asked him. Merlin, was she still here? 

“Yeah, yeah,” He waved his hand dismissively. “The hungover, that’s all.” He said, and spent the rest of the lunch very determinately not looking at Scorpius or his tea flavoured lips. 

(…)

Scorpius came back to his dorm as quickly as he could. He had been planning on going to the library, but lunch had ruined his mood for studying. Plus, if he was being honest, his head was still killing him from all the alcohol. 

He sat down at his bed and put his satchel down, which made a loud noise as the books inside of it made contact with the stone floor of the dorm.

It’s not that he had been expecting Albus to come and greet him during lunch, but the deliberated way that Albus kept avoiding eye contact made him feel sick on his stomach.

He ruined everything, he knew it, and he didn’t even know why he cared so much. If he was being rational, he knew that there was nothing to be ruined in the first place. But Scorpius had to admit that he’d always had a slight hope, at the back of his mind, that one day he would muster the courage to talk to Albus, and maybe they could be friends, or at least friendly acquaintances. But now Albus was probably disgusted with him, or embarrassed, or both. Probably even angry at Scorpius and thinking that Scorpius had taken advantage of him while he was drunk. 

So there he had it. At least he should be happy, Scorpius thought. He had gotten his first kiss and his first…. Merlin, his first time. Scorpius buried his face in his pillow. His first time had been with a boy he didn’t know, while drunk, and now said boy hated him and was probably repelled by him. If Scorpius thought his existence couldn’t be more miserable and pathetic, he had been proven wrong.

The worst part, Scorpius thought, turning onto his back and unburied his face from his pillow, was that Scorpius didn’t actually regret it. He couldn’t. Not when his mind was filled with the sounds Albus had made and the way his untamed hair tickled against his jawline when he kissed his neck.

Maybe he deserved it, Scorpius thought. Maybe this was the punishment he had to receive for taking something he didn’t deserve. Something as good as Albus Potter was never his to have, and he now had to pay the price for it. 

He could do it, Scorpius thought, if only he were sure that he would be the only one paying the price, and that nothing of what happened would haunt Albus. He hoped it didn’t. He hoped that Albus didn’t hate him so much, and that for him this had been only a silly drunken mistake. Maybe then Scorpius could forgive himself and maybe enjoy the memories.

(…)

Albus sighed. It wasn’t that Albus was avoiding Scorpius, he wasn’t. But Albus quickly found out how easy it was to avoid something (or someone) when your mind was set on procrastinating the matter.

The excuses were too easy to find, and Albus' anxious mind was too quick to find them absolutely compelling. Talking to Scorpius the first time he saw him at lunchtime? Too soon, it’d be weird. Then he spent the afternoon recovering from his hangover, it was only fair that he took a break. Then at dinner? Well, Rose sat with him at lunch so it was only fair that’d he sit with her at Gryffindor during dinner. It didn’t matter that everyone looked at him weirdly, or that James teased him.

And the next morning over breakfast? Too risky, too many people. And then Douglas wanted to go to Hogsmead, and after that he had promised to help Lily with potions, and then Hugo had tagged along and gotten them in trouble by exploding his caldron. And then he had to help them clean it, of course, which also meant he had now less time to do the homework he had pushed aside, which meant that he couldn’t afford losing time walking all the way to the library so he’d rather just finish it alone in his dorm. And by the time he had run out of excuses (well, ‘things to do’, Albus preferred to call them) the weekend had gone by and it was Monday.

And he was not panicking at the idea of seeing Scorpius in class, it’s just, what was he supposed to say? Was there a protocol for when you ‘accidentally’ slept with someone after a party even though you had never even talked before? He supposed James had experience in the matter, but he would rather clean professor Slughorn’s toilette than tell James about what had happened. 

With a deep sigh, Albus shook himself out of his thoughts and walked into the classroom. 

It was impossible not to spot Scorpius, since he always sat at the front row of the class. He looked up from his notebook and Albus could sense him freezing at the sight of Albus. ‘That can’t be a good sign’ Albus thought. He gave Scorpius a thigh Smile before rushing to the back of the class.

The rest of the day went on in a similar fashion, with them barely meeting each other’s eyes and Albus very suddenly finding himself extremely interested in whatever new gossip Olivia had. Which was a lot. 

It wasn’t until the classes ended for the day, and Albus found himself unable to avoid another study session in the face of Rose Granger-Weasley, that he finally bumped into Scorpius. 

He was in the most remote section of the library, trying to find an old Herbology book that Nevi-Professor Longbottom, he corrected himself, had recommended him for his essay, when the source of his anxiety came into view.

“Hey,” Scorpius said, equally as surprised as Albus felt.

“Hey,” He said back, standing up from where he had been crouching, the book he had been looking for now in his hand.

They stood in front of each other, the silence stretching for what felt like ages, until Albus finally spoke. He took a deep sigh, deciding it was better to just rip the bandage and be done with it. He had to have some Gryffindor courage somewhere, it had to be in his genes.

“I didn’t meant to leave.” He said abruptly, and slightly more rushed than he’d intended.

“What?” Scorpius asked, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion. 

“After the party...” Albus started, more slowly this time. “After… you know, in the morning.”

“Oh-“ This time Scorpius seemed to catch on, his eyes widening in realisation and his face turning a light shade of pink. “It’s-“

Albus interrupted him and kept talking, decided on keeping the momentum the courage had given him. “I just wasn’t sure of what to do, and your roommates were coming, and I thought it’d be better if they didn’t find us… you know, like that?” Scorpius nodded, the pink on his face turning redder at every word Albus was saying. “So-So yeah, that.” He finished awkwardly. 

Scorpius seemed to be lost on his thoughts, or at least expecting Albus to keep on talking, because he found himself startled before speaking. “No, it’s okay, I get it.” He said shortly.

Albus nodded, both of them now standing awkwardly in front of each other.

“So…” Albus started slowly. “About what happened…” 

“Ye-yeah?” Scorpius was now completely red, and Albus thought that in any other situation it would have been extremely funny.

“Is everything okay? I mean, are you okay with what…” Merlin, he’d rather be swallowed alive.

“Ye-yeah, yes. Yes, I am.” Scorpius blurted out. “I mean, it was okay. More than okay, actually, you know? Not that I- What I mean is that, yeah, it was fun?”

Despite everything, Albus laughed. Which seemed to work to ease some of the tension, and he noticed Scorpius slowly relaxing. 

“I’m sorry,” Scorpius started. “This is all… so weird. Not weird in a bad way, just… unexpected? But it was okay, I mean, if you think it was okay?”

Albus was now slightly smiling. “Yeah, it was okay.” He said softly.

“Oh, okay.” Scorpius smiled back.

They stared at each other of a moment, Albus wondering what he could said. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to said, much less what would be appropriated. He looked back at the direction Rose was supposed to be, though the view of their table was blocked by a few bookshelves, and wondered how much time he had until Rose came looking for him. When he turned back his attention to Scorpius, he found out that he was still staring at him.

In that moment he realized that he hadn’t been looking at Scorpius until now, too afraid of what he would find on his face. Anger? Resentment? He wasn’t prepared for that. But now that everything seemed to be settled, at least the part where Albus wondered if Scorpius hated him and wished him dead, he allowed himself to properly look at the boy.

He was the same as usual, which was, of course, absolutely stunning. His pale blond hair was combed back, but in a slightly relaxed way, which caused a soft wave to form around the hair that framed his face. One strand of hair came undone and rested softly just above his eyes, and Albus wondered if it was uncomfortable or if Scorpius was used to his hair falling into his eyes. He must’ve been, Albus thought, because his hair looked so soft and thin that it’d made sense that it’d fell undone from any hairstyle he tried. 

Maybe because Albus had been staring, or maybe it was just perfect timing, but Scorpius looked away and pushed the strand of hair behind his ear with a soft hand movement, his fingers delicately tracing his face. Albus felt mesmerized. 

In that moment, Albus realized with extreme shock something he had been trying to ignore. What had happened after the party wasn’t just ‘okay’. It had been amazing, and he wanted to do it again. In fact, he thought, he would very much like to push Scorpius against the bookshelves and kiss him hard. If only just to find out if it still felt as good as it did when he was drunk.

Albus cleared his throat, just to break the silence. What now? Were they now ‘friends’? ‘Acquaintances’? ‘Friends with benefits’? Were they nothing at all? Did what happened change something or were they still complete strangers? With a great sense of disappointment, Albus realized that they were, in fact, still strangers. Well, strangers that knew how each other sounded in bed, but Albus tried not to think about that. 

“So…” Albus finally started. He wondered what the correct course of action would be; should he pretend they were now friends and talk normally? Should he offer to do homework with him? Should he ask him for a date? Did Scorpius even like him? Maybe it had been just a one-time thing and Scorpius wasn’t even interested in Albus in a ‘romantic’ way? Wait-Was HE interested in Scorpius in a romantic way? Did he want to DATE Scorpius, or did he just want to snog him because that felt good? His train of thoughts was interrupted when he heard Rose calling his name. 

He almost jumped when he heard his cousin voice, and looked back at Scorpius. Scorpius gave him an apologetic smile, his eyes looking almost… sad? When Rose appeared from behind the bookshelves.

“Albus, did you find the book? Neville said it was supposed to be on the bottom left of the….” She came to a stop when she noticed Scorpius.

“Professor Longbottom.” Albus said.

“What?” Rose looked back at him.

“We are supposed to call him ‘Professor Longbottom’ at school, not ‘Neville’.” He said.

Rose blinked at him, as if that piece of information had been completely irrelevant. “Yeah, okay, ‘Professor Longbottom’,” She corrected herself and turned her attention back to Scorpius.

“Is everything okay?” She asked, still addressing her cousin. 

“…Yeah, why?” He asked, nervous at the way his cousin was staring at Scorpius.

“Is he bothering you?” She asked. 

“Bothering me…?” Albus asked, confused. He then realized what it must’ve looked like to anyone who saw the situation from the outside: He left his table looking for a book, took an unnaturally long amount of time, and when his cousin came looking for him he was silently staring at Scorpius Malfoy, who was, of course (Albus thought exasperated) ‘absolutely an evil death eater’. “No, no,” Albus started. “He was just…” Albus paused, wondering how to continue.

“I was just helping him find his book.” Scorpius, to his surprise, said. Albus turned to look at him at the same time as Rose. 

“Yeah, the book…” Albus said, uneasy. 

“Well, I’d better be going…” Scorpius said, cautiously looking at Rose, who was determined in fulminating him with her eyes. “See ya’.” He said, looking at Albus, and this time he blushed. “Or not?” He added quickly.

It took all of Albus self-control not to laugh. “See ya’,” He said back. 

Scorpius smiled awkwardly, and turned to nod at Rose as a form of goodbye, before disappearing behind the shelves. 

“What was that all about, since when are you two friends?” Rose asked, once Scorpius was gone.

“F-Friends?” Albus almost spat. 

Rose rolled her eyes. “Well you might as well be.” She said “See ya’⁓⁓” She mocked in a sing-song voice.

This time Albus rolled his eyes. “I was just being nice.” He said, already walking back to their table.

“With him?” Rose asked, following him.

“Yeah, with him. Why?” He asked, trying not to sound mad. “Because he is a Malfoy?” He couldn’t resist adding. He couldn’t believe that after all this years Rose still insisted with the same crap as everyone.

Rose stopped walking, and stared at him. “I’m just being cautious, okay?” 

Albus stopped to look at her. He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “Yeah, okay.” He mumbled. “Whatever.” And he kept walking before Rose had the chance to say anything back.

(…)

Scorpius stopped walking and sat down at an empty windowsill at the back of the library. 

That went… well, Scorpius thought. It went well. 

So why was he feeling so… disappointed? 

Scorpius sighed and reached to put his hair behind his ear. What was he expecting? For Albus to ask him out? To say that what happened had been the most wonderful thing to ever happen to him and declare his undying love to Scorpius? He almost laughed. 

All things considered, he should be glad it went so smoothly. He had gone to a party, talked to a cute guy way out of his league, hooked up, and somehow managed to avoid any major drama. 

Except this wasn’t just any cute guy. Scorpius sighed. Maybe it was time to accept the fact that he didn’t just think Albus Potter was cute, but he actually had a major crush on him. Or at least, he had a major crush on the idea of him, didn’t he? He liked this idea of Albus Potter. The Albus Potter that actually liked him back and not hated him like the rest of the school. Because he didn’t know him, so there was nothing he objectively knew about Albus Potter that justified having an actual rational crush on him. 

Scorpius looked out of the window, focusing on a group of students sitting by the lake. The setting sun reminded him of all the times he saw Albus Potter skipping rocks into the lake. He rested his head against the window. 

‘No’, he thought. There were many things he knew about Albus Potter. 

He knew that he liked to spend the afternoons by the lake, skipping rocks. He always stayed a few steps away from his group of friends, and stood out as the only person standing near the shore of the lake while the rest of the group sat down eating sweets. 

And it seemed like Albus didn’t eat many sweets or candies, except for peppermint toads. And now he also knew that he also smelled like them when you were close enough to perceive it. Scorpius blushed at the memory from the party.

He knew that he helped his sister with her potions class, and after the party, he knew that he also helped his roommates with potions. And he was fairly good at them, because Slughorn always commented how he must have inherited Lily Potter’s talent. 

And he also knew that Albus disliked every time that someone mentioned his family, or called him by his last name. He would get quieter, his mouth would turn into a stiff thigh smile that barely resembled how he naturally acted. 

Because Scorpius also noticed that, how he acted. Albus was reserved, quiet, but there was some sense of softness and calmness to his reserved attitude. It reminded him of the Great Lake, of the cold dark water that could be seen from the Slytherin common room. But there was more to the Great Lake than cold water. Sometimes, like right now, the sun would be reflected on it and it would shine in the most beautiful golden light. Scorpius remembered every time he had seen Albus smile, remembered the way his eyes shone while they talked in the kitchens. There was a golden light that radiated sometimes from the cold water that was Albus Potter, and Scorpius wanted desperately to find out all the sources that caused that golden glow, all the reasons Albus had to smile and shine. 

Scorpius sighed. Maybe Albus Potter fascinated him, and maybe he had spent an embarrassing amount of time watching him from the distance. But it also didn’t help that Albus was so… nice.

It didn’t help that Albus was the one that never laughed when someone joked about Scorpius, that he was the one to apologetically make eye contact when someone pranked Scorpius. It didn’t help that he had been the only student to step in when everyone had stolen his potion ingredients in third year and shared half of his own with Scorpius. It didn’t help that Albus Potter looked so mean and aloof yet he had always been nothing but kind to Scorpius. 

And now… this. The party. That night. Scorpius was on his god forsaken right to have the biggest crush on Albus Potter, he told himself. If anything, it was Albus’ fault, and Albus’ fault alone that this was happening.

Scorpius stood up, picking up his satchel.

But that didn’t matter, nothing of this mattered. It didn’t matter if Scorpius’ crush was justified or if he was just fooling himself daydreaming of someone he didn’t know. Because regardless of his feelings, Albus didn’t care. For Albus, this had all been a random incident, of the many he must have had in the past. Scorpius was nothing but a name in the list of people he must’ve had kissed and fooled around with. If anything, Scorpius should be glad that his name was in that list at all.

Without looking back, he left the library.

(…)

In the following days, Scorpius tried his best to forget that it had happened at all. Well, not exactly. He didn’t actually want to forget, and in fact he thought about it every single night. But he tried his best to convince himself that it had been just a good thing that had happened, and that he should be happy for the memory and move on.

But that was easier said than done, especially when he had to see Albus every single day. Like right now, as he was sitting under the shadow of a tree, trying to explain a second-year Hufflepuff why the goblin rebellion had an impact in the future of wizarding law-making. 

He had spotted Albus by accident, though nowadays it practically didn’t matter if he intended to look for Albus or not, because he seemed to have had refined his natural talent at spotting him and could now find him easily at any type of crowd.

As of right now, Albus was sitting with his usual group of Slytherins. To his right was the boy Scorpius recognized as Douglas Bell, and to his left, a beautiful fair skinned girl with dark brown hair, Olivia Millan. She knew about her, of course. She and Polly Chapman seemed to be on the run of who was the most desired girl at their year. Olivia seemed to be winning, in Scorpius opinion, if only because Polly Chapman became more and more annoying as the years went on. But what both of them failed to consider, Scorpius thought, was the fact that Rose Granger-Weasley stole the spot light without even trying. She was just fierce like that, and Scorpius respected that. Respected and feared, actually. 

But Olivia had nothing to be jealous of anyways. Scorpius had spent years in his dorm hearing his roommates talk about her attributes, sometimes in ways Scorpius considered not respectful at all. Of all her many attributes, Scorpius thought, her hair surely stood out. It was a deep chocolate brown, straight and shiny and obnoxiously long. Well, maybe not obnoxious, but right now, as she flickered her hair in front of Albus, Scorpius thought her hair was the most annoying thing in the entire word.

Albus rolled his eyes at her, and she laughed loudly. Scorpius couldn’t tell if she was flirting or not. It was true that Olivia seemed to hang out a lot around Albus, but Scorpius was sure that Albus and she were not a thing. Plus, it surely didn't mean anything. Scorpius had seen plenty of girls hanging around Albus, fluttering their eyelashes and flicking their hair. But none of them would stick around for long.

“He is really cute, isn’t he?” The Hufflepuff girl said. “He is always surrounded by girls…” 

“What?” Scorpius realized just then that he had been, very obviously, staring.

“Albus Potter,” She said. “My sister says that all the girls think he is one of the hottest guys at school, but that his personality puts him a couple of places further down on the list, you know?”

Scorpius had never been interested in gossip, or at least he had never been included enough to take part in it, but right now he was very interested. “List?” He asked.

Jenny, the Hufflepuff girl, laughed. “Well, metaphorically speaking. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if someone actually made a list.” She shrugged. “Anyways, my sister says that in this metaphorical list of guys, Albus ranks very high. But he is kind of weird, so he is not ‘top tier’.” She finished with air quotes.

“Weird?” He asked, “How?” Scorpius felt like he shouldn't be this offended by a thirteen-years-old calling Albus weird, but he was. 

Jenny shrugged. “Oh, you know. Moody, sulky, doesn’t talk a lot, and my sister says that he doesn’t really go to many social events. But the girls still consider hooking up with him as an achievement, you know? After all, he is the son of Harry Potter, and he is very cute. Though his brother James has the most charm of the two.” She finished.

Scorpius looked at her dumbfounded. Was this what the kids talked about? Was he really that out of it? He was surprised at the amount of input this girl managed to give him, and the strong opinions she seemed to have. She listed everything as fact, as if the entire school had made a unanimous agreement on it. He felt low-key scared at what they could be saying about him behind his back, though he thought it couldn’t be worse than what they were already saying to his face.

In the middle of his shock, Scorpius processed one piece of information.

“The girls hook up with him a lot?” He asked, and hoped it wasn’t much of a weird question.

Jenny laughed, “I know, I was shocked too! He is so quiet and shy that you’d never guess, but my sister says that her friend… Juliet? Yeah, I think it was Juliet, Juliet Goldstein. They found her and Albus behind the greenhouse last year. Quite the gossip around Hufflepuff.” She finished with a laugh.

Scorpius swallowed slowly. He didn’t know why this information affected him so much. He’d already suspected that he was nothing but another name on Albus’ long list of people, but the confirmation still hurt more than he had expected. 

“But it’s not surprise,” Jenny continued, looking at Albus. He was now taking pushing Olivia away, who was trying to feed him some kind of pastry. “I’m sure he must be tired of being followed around.”

He spared one last glance at Albus, who was now rolling his eyes at Douglas and Olivia, his cheek covered in pink glace as he tried to clean it. ‘He is so cute’, Scorpius though, with great resignation. Well, he thought, maybe now that his fear had been confirmed, he could let go of his dreams of getting somewhere with him.

(…)

Days went by, and days tuned into weeks, and Albus decided that everything was… fine? 

Nothing really changed. He kept on hanging out with his usual group of friends, kept going to class and asking Rose for her note’s in the classes they shared together. 

And Scorpius… well, that was a different matter. It wasn’t that something changed, in fact, nothing changed, and that kind of upset Albus. Their relationship stayed the same, which meant that they didn’t talk or acknowledged each other’s existence. Well, that last part wasn’t entirely true. 

The thing was, ever since they’d talked at the library, Scorpius and Albus had this weird unspoken agreement that ‘it had happened’. ‘It’ being… that night. 

And this all translated into some weird situations. For example, if one of them would accidentally made eye contact with the other, they would awkwardly smile at each other because... well, it’d happened. Or if they’d be walking down the corridor and they’d suddenly spot the other, they would shyly smile and nod because, well… that’d happened.

It was dumb, and practically nothing, but it made Albus heart skip a beat every time, and he found himself actively looking for Scorpius just to see him smile and confirm that what had happened was real and that it hadn’t been a delirious dream Albus had had. 

But it also meant that Albus now didn’t know what to do. A part of him wanted to approach Scorpius, other part wondered why Scorpius didn’t approach him instead, another part weighed the pros and cons of his family and friends finding out he wanted to shag Scorpius Malfoy. 

So the days passed by, and Albus kept wondering what to do, what to say, or why Scorpius would look away every time they made eye contact. He wondered if abruptly stopping Scorpius down the corridor and saying “Hey remembered that night, you know, when ‘that’ happened? It was cool, right? Wanna do it again?” was as much as horrible idea as he thought, because every day it became a more tempting option, and Albus couldn’t come a with a better approach plan.

To make things worse, there was a new problem Albus hadn’t anticipated, and it was that now every comment that Scorpius received felt entirely more personal. If someone laughed at him, if they pushed him down the corridor, if someone threw something on his caldron so his potion would explode, Albus felt a boiling rage inside of him that could barely be contained.

But he could handle that rage, Albus thought. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been bothered by Scorpius getting bullied before. What he couldn’t handle was Scorpius’ furtive looks.

The first time that it had happened, they had been walking out of Transfiguration classes. Some Gryffindor students passed next to Scorpius and shoved him against the wall, causing him to drop all of his books and notes on the floor. Scorpius had sighed, and knelt down to pick them up, and the Gryffindor students used that opportunity to surround Scorpius and start insulting him. Scorpius had kept his gaze down, and tried to pick his things as fast as he could, but in that moment he noticed Albus looking back at him. 

They’d started at each other, Albus frozen on the spot, when the professor appeared in scene to ask what was happening. The situation was diffused, and the moment between Albus and Scorpius broke. But still Albus couldn’t get the image of Scorpius’ eyes out of his mind.

He knew that he should’ve said something, and it wasn’t the first time he had ever considered it. But now, after what had happened between them, it felt more personal. This time Albus had no excuse, Scorpius wasn’t some random boy Albus had never talked to and who he had no obligation to stand up for. Sure, Scorpius was still practically a stranger. But after snogging the hell out of someone, you develop some type of connection.

So that was the new problem. 

Every time something happened, Albus would find himself under the shy gaze of Scorpius, who silently wondered if Albus would help. And every time, Albus would freeze on the spot deciding if he should step in or not. And he would hate himself afterwards, for not doing so, but after all there was a reason he had been sorted into Slytherin and not Gryffindor. 

(…)

Sooner than he had desired, the winter holidays came around, and being away from Hogwarts did nothing to stop his wandering thoughts. His spent the entire time back at his house beating himself for now trying to approach Scorpius. He couldn’t resolve his dilemma, but the opportunity for it came around the week after returning to Hogwarts.

They had been on Divination classes, learning how to read their fortune based on the position on the stars. Their professor walked around the room, trying to explain how the position of the stars on the day that they were born would effect on how to read their current position.

“For example,” He started, “Mr Malfoy, what day where you born?” Albus attention turned completely on to the class when he heard Scorpius last name.

“January 13th.” Scorpius answered. Albus processed the information. That meant his birthday would be next week.

“Very well,” The professor said. “So as we can see, on January 13th of 2006…” He proceeded to point at the diagram on the wall, but Albus was too busy writing down the date on his parchment paper, determined on remembering it. 

So that was the reason that Albus found himself sitting on his bed, staring at his divination notes, wondering what to do with this new piece of information. After some minutes passed by, he decided that desperate problems required desperate measurements. 

He stood up, picked his school bag just in case, and walked directly to his new destination. Once he stood outside the Fat Lady’s portrait, he waited until a random Gryffindor student came into view.

“I’m looking for my sister, Lily. Could you tell her I need to see her?” 

(…)

The January cold had been harsher than Scorpius remembered. He entered the Slytherin common room, glad to feel the warmth of the fireplace through the layers of his clothing. He slowed down his pace, now that he wasn’t risking freezing to death, and walked downstairs to the dorms. 

His birthday had never been anything remarkable. When he was little, his father always insisted on taking him and his mother to anywhere Scorpius desired. They’d usually ended up at some muggle coffee shop, Scorpius delighted at the muggle drinks and candies while his father struggled to comprehend muggle money, his mother laughing behind him. Luckily, saying that they were foreigners helped to ease the weird looks. 

They were fond memories, Scorpius admitted, probably the happiest he had. But after he started Hogwarts, and especially after his mother died, his birthday became nothing more than another mundane day on his school schedule. The only difference would be the letter and package he would receive from his father during breakfast, along with the invitation to spend the next Hogsmead weekend together. 

That’s why, when he walked up to his bed, the last thing Scorpius expected to find was a package. 

Scorpius eyed it cautiously. Six years of constant bullying trained him to be alert at all times.

It was a relatively small green box, though it was bigger than his hands, wrapped with a shimmery white lace that formed a bow on top of it. Scorpius sat down on the bed and pocked at the box with his finger. When nothing happened, he picked it up. He held it on his hands, still unsure, and shook it. It barely made a sound.

He looked around the room, and under the beds, just to confirm that it wasn’t some sort of prank, and after deciding that it seemed safe enough, he opened it. 

Inside was a beaded bracelet, a book, and a note. 

More confused than before, Scorpius took the note and read it. 

“Scorpius,  
I hope this doesn’t come across as weird, but I couldn’t help but notice that it was your birthday this week after you mentioned on Divination class. I thought it’d be nice to wish you a happy birthday.  
My sister made the bracelet, she says those beads symbolise good luck, and I know you read a lot, so I thought you’d might find the book interesting.  
It’s not much, but I hope you like it.  
Happy Birthday!  
-Albus”

Scorpius stared at the letter for ages after finishing it. He read it again, and once again, and about five times just to be sure he had understood the message clearly. Apparently, if his brain was still working, Albus Potter had given him a birthday present. His heart beat so fast against his chest that he was worried it might require medical attention. 

He carefully put the note down, as if afraid that it would vanish if he put it down too roughly, and looked around the room again. If this was some sort of elaborated prank, he wouldn’t be sure he could survive it. He was certain that this would be the prank that caused him to end it all for once and for all. 

As carefully as he put down the note, he picked up the bracelet. It was made with black string, and in between the complicated braids where some white coloured beads that reminded Scorpius of the night sky, and in the middle of them a slightly bigger green and gold bead that reflected its colours against the white ones. Scorpius brushed his fingers against the soft beads, and took him a moment to realize he was crying. Shocked, he took a deep breath and wiped his eyes. 

The small bracelet was objectively an insignificant gift, and Scorpius was sure that Albus had no idea of how much it meant. Never, in his 17 years of life, had Scorpius received a gift that wasn’t from his parents. Heck, even his grandparents ignored his existence because of his mother. They had always disapproved of her and her beliefs. She’d always viewed muggles as equals. But it wasn’t that he cared about his grandparents either, his father had made it clear that they weren’t worthy of his time, never wanting Scorpius to be under the same influences he had had when he was younger.

Still, Scorpius had spent his entire childhood wondering what it’d be like to have a big birthday party, with family members and friends. He had thought that once he’d started Hogwarts he would have had the chance to make friends and exchange gifts on birthdays and Christmas. But of course, it had never happened, and Scorpius had given up on his childish dreams a long time ago.

But now, this. Scorpius held the bracelet on his palm. Seventeen years, and this was his first birthday gift from a…. friend?

He put the bracelet next to the note, and moved to pick the small book inside the box. It had a reddish brown leather cover, and in the front read “Grimm’s fairy tales”. Scorpius smiled, recognizing the title. It was a muggle story book that he was familiar with, and he felt a warm sense of nostalgia on his chest as he remembered her mother reading it to him when he was younger. He knew that it was a fairly known children’s book, and that Albus’ family was probably familiar with muggle culture, but still the book choice couldn’t be more perfect and he felt tears falling down his cheeks again. 

Overwhelmed, Scorpius put the book down and picked the note again. He carefully lied down on his bed, closing the curtains around him, and read the note again, slowly going over each word written on the piece of paper.

He smiled, his heart filling with so many feelings that he could barely piece them together, and stupidly traced Albus’ name with his index finger on the paper.

He knew he wouldn't be getting over Albus Potter any time sooner. 

(…)

Albus sat down outside on the Hogwarts grounds after deciding to skip breakfast. It was still early in the morning, the stone steps were still cold under him and the morning sun had barely started to hit against his skin.

He bit his nails, not sure of what expect. A part of him thought that sending a random gift was a dumb idea, but after everything that happened he felt the need to do something for Scorpius, and Merlin knew he wasn’t enough of a Gryffindor to approach him. And apparently, he wasn’t Gryffindor enough to face him during breakfast either.

He truly didn't want to avoid Scorpius, but he knew that a fair amount of students had seen him and Lily on the Gryffindor common room, and he knew that his presence on Gryffindor territory was enough to start rumours.

Lily had asked too many questions, but after offering to lend her his turn with the invisibility cloak, she agreed on helping him pick a good and simple birthday gift without asking any further questions.

So now there he was, sitting alone in the cold winter morning, trying to focus on the faint traces of sunlight for warmth. 

He was wondering if it’d be better to actively look for Scorpius or wait until he decided to approach Albus instead, when he heard the grand doors opening behind him, the heavy wood breaking the silence he had been immersed in.

“Hey,” Scorpius practically whispered as he closed the door. It was quiet enough outside that his voice travelled clearly despite its softness.

“Hey,” Albus said back. He was starting to get used to their shy hellos. 

Scorpius stood against the door, his hands behind his back and probably pressing against the wooden door, looking down at Albus. “Can I sit down?” He finally asked.

Albus looked at the stone steps of the stairs he was sitting on and then back at Scorpius. “Sure.” He said. “They are kind of cold, though” He added, because he felt like it.

Scorpius nodded, biting his lip, before closing the short distance between them and sitting down.

Now that he was at the same level as him, the rays of sun hit the side of his face as he looked at Albus. The January morning was cold and dry, and the winter sun started to cast a pale soft light against the castle causing it to have a soft cloudy atmosphere. Scorpius hair reflected the sunlight in a way that made it look like it was glowing with the same wintery light.

“How did you find me?” Albus asked after a second had passed.

“Your sister told me she saw you walking here.” Scorpius said. Albus frowned, confused. “I didn’t ask her, she approached me” Scorpius hurried to add. “Not that I didn’t want to see you, but I wasn’t actively trying to follow you, that’s why I mean.”

Albus couldn’t help but smile. He felt bad, for finding Scorpius anxiety so endearing, but he couldn’t help it. “It’s okay,” Albus told him “It sounds like something my sister would do.” He was wondering why would Lily have approached him when he noticed the book Scorpius was holding. He sighed. Of course. He wondered if Lily would keep the secret or if she would be already telling their entire family. “She probably noticed the book, she…” Albus blushed now that he was forced to acknowledge the situation. “…she helped me pick it.”

“Oh,” Scorpius said, and after a second, he started to blush too. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have entered the hall with it, I was just planning on thanking you and I didn’t think-“

“Scorpius,” Albus put his hand up to stop him. “It’s okay, really.”

Scorpius sighed. “I just wanted to thank you for…” He looked at the book in his hand. “…for the gift, and the letter… You didn’t have to, but it was nice, so I wanted to thank you.” He finally looked back at Albus.

Albus smiled at him. “It was nothing,” He said, flicking his gaze between his hands and Scorpius. “I just… I don’t know…” He kept his gaze down to his fingers. “I didn’t want it to be weird, you know? Leaving a gift just out of the blue, but… dunno, I wanted to…” 

“You are very impulsive.” Said Scorpius, smiling, and Albus gaze snapped back at him.

“Sorry…?” Albus felt his entire face burning.

Scorpius smile dropped, and his eyes widened comically large. “No, no-“ He hurried to say. “It’s good, very good actually! Not that not thinking is good, you know?” Scorpius winced. “Not-Not that I’m saying that you don’t think, what I’m saying it’s that- it’s that it is good that you make these impulsive decisions, because I know I’m way too anxious to ever make them myself, so I’m glad that you are the one making them because otherwise we wouldn’t even be interacting in the first place, and I very much like interacting with you and-“

“You are so cute when you are nervous.” Albus interrupted him, completely sure that he must have not heard half of what Scorpius had been saying because he was too busy trying not to laugh.

“Oh.” Scorpius said, his previous ramble coming to a complete stop. 

Albus realized just then what he just said, and he quickly looked away, embarrassed. “I mean-“ He coughed. “I’m glad you liked the gift.” He said, still not making eye contact.

“Yeah.” Scorpius simply said. 

Albus glanced back at him when he didn’t say anything else. Scorpius was staring at him, his cheeks slightly pink, though Albus couldn’t tell if it was from the cold or something else. His skin looked radiant against the morning sun, and in front of him his breath turned into soft clouds against the coldness of the air. ‘It’s like every day he becomes more beautiful’ Albus though, both amazed and frustrated.

Neither of them said anything, and Albus noticed Scorpius tightly clutching the book on his hands.

“I used to read it when I was little.” Albus commented. “Not that I’m much of a reader, but it’s muggle and I thought that maybe-“

“I’ve read it before” Scorpius hurried to say.

“Oh,” Albus said, deflated, looking away. He had thought that maybe Scorpius wasn’t familiar with muggle culture, so it’d be something new to him, but apparently he was wrong. 

“No, no. I love it!” Scorpius seemed to catch on Albus disappointed. “What I mean is that I used to read it when I was little too, and I loved it. It was one of my favourites.” He smiled at Albus, and it was such a genuine smile that Albus decided to believe him.

“Oh, okay.” He said, smiling back. 

“And the bracelet,” Scorpius added. “I loved it too” He reached into the pocket of his coat and showed it to Albus. “I’m not wearing it because I couldn’t tie it on my own, but I think it’s very pretty” He added.

“Do you want me to tie it?” Albus offered immediately, without thinking.

Scorpius eyes widened, a stronger blush appearing on his face, as if he hadn’t thought of that idea, even though it seemed completely obvious to Albus. “Would you?” He asked shyly.

“Of course.” Albus smiled. “Just if you want, you know?” He added, “You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want to, I wouldn’t mind.”

“No, no. I want to, really.” Scorpius said, this time handing the bracelet to Albus.

“Okay,” He simply said, picking the bracelet. His fingers brushed lightly against Scorpius’ hand and he tried his best not to blush. Without daring to make eye contact, he moved closer and wrapped the bracelet around Scorpius’ wrist. “Is that too tight or…?” He said, finally looking up to Scorpius. He stopped talking mid-sentence, realizing how close they were now. 

Scorpius lifted his gaze from where Albus had been tying the bracelet and looked back at him. “It’s okay” He said smiling.

It took Albus a second too react, but he finally nodded and looked back at Scorpius’ wrist and finished tying the strings. 

“All done.” He said, and looked back at Scorpius.

This time, Scorpius was already looking at him, and Albus felt extremely aware of how close they were sitting now. He thought that maybe he should move back, but in all honesty, he didn’t want to.

Scorpius finally looked down, looking at his wrist. A smile appeared on his face. “I love it, thanks.” He said, looking back at Albus. His words sounded so soft and sincere that Albus, who usually doubted and second-guessed everything everyone said to him, immediately believed him.

“I’m glad.” Albus said, smiling back at him. Scorpius smiled again, not taking his eyes off him. Albus knew that he wanted to say something, but once again, he wasn’t sure of what.

The Hogwarts grounds were completely desert, the morning too cold and still too early for anyone to be outside. The thick walls of the castle contained any sound that could be happening on the insides, and the only sound that could be heard was the soft rustle of the trees and the first sings of the birds. The peace of the silence felt too magical, and Albus felt too insignificant to dare to break it.

He looked at Scorpius, who was still looking back at him, his fingers now twisting the beads of the bracelet. His eyes shone on the morning sunlight, and Albus noticed for the first time his long eye lashes, as blonde as the rest of his hair. They flickered against his cheeks every time he blinked, and Albus felt mesmerized by them. Soft dust of cold floated in the morning sunbeams, and they reflected the sunlight while dancing around Scorpius, making him look ethereal. Albus wondered if it was possible that he was in fact part veela, because otherwise he couldn’t explain the way his heart was feeling at that moment.

It must have been awkward, the way the silence stretched between them, but Albus never felt more comfortable in his entire life. He felt like he could spend the rest of the morning there, looking at Scorpius and noticing the details he had never noticed before, and everything would have been perfectly okay.

Scorpius kept twisting the bracelet between his fingers, and Albus hands itched with the need to hold his hands and make him stop. 

Scorpius must have noticed Albus looking at his hands, because he suddenly stopped.

“Sorry,” He said softly. “Nervous habit…” He explained, looking away.

“No, it’s okay.” Albus said. “I was just…” He decided in that moment that he would make the boldest move in his entire life. Well, at least the boldest one while sober. He grabbed Scorpius' hand, and with his other one he gently grabbed the beads of the bracelet with his fingers. “…I was thinking about the beads…” He started. 

“Oh…” Scorpius said, and when Albus looked back, he noticed that he was scarlet red. But he didn’t push Albus’ hand away, so that was a good sign.

Albus decided to continue. “My sister picked them.” He continued. He knew that he had already explained it on his letter, but he wanted an excuse to keep holding Scorpius’ hand. “The white ones represent good fortune…” He traced the white ones with his finger. “My sister’s godmother, Luna, is obsessed with muggles’ interpretation of magic and she-“

Before he could keep speaking, he was interrupted by Scorpius hand on his check. He looked up, and before he could register what was happening, Scorpius' lips crashed into his. He froze in place, not in a million years expecting shy and stuttering Scorpius Malfoy to kiss him out of the blue.

He must have stayed frozen for longer than he intended, because Scorpius suddenly pulled back. “I’m sorry!” He almost yelled. “It’s just, we kissed before, and I know we didn’t speak afterwards but then you gave me this gift so I thought that it meant you might actually like me and I thou-“

This time, it was Albus the one to kiss him unprompted. He clutched Scorpius’ hand, the one he had never let go of, and pulled away. “I do.” Albus said, looking at Scorpius. “I like you.”

The grin on Scorpius was something Albus knew he would remember forever. “I like you too.” Scorpius said. And Albus felt like he could start floating at any moment. 

(…)

As it turned out, dating Scorpius Malfoy was the easiest thing he had ever done. It was so easy that it left Albus wondering why he had never done it before.

He had gone on a couple of dates before, and because of that he always had this weird impression that dating was awkward and complicated, that it was this complex game where he had to think and guess the correct answers and ask the right questions and then maybe he might be rewarded a kiss.

But as it turned out, it wasn’t anything like that. At least not with Scorpius. 

Dating Scorpius was like having a new best friend. A new cool, super funny best friend, who also had the benefits of being the most beautiful boy on earth and giving the sweetest kisses. 

And boy did Scorpius give the best kisses. 

Albus had been scared, at first, thinking that kissing Scorpius would turn less exiting with time, or that they would run out of topics to talk about. But on the contrary, the more they kissed and the more they allowed themselves to experiment, they both got better and better, and the more they talked and started to know each other, the more fascinated Albus became in the type of person Scorpius was and the stories he had to tell. Even better, Albus couldn’t stop thinking about the stories they would make together.

“-bus, Albus!” Scorpius snapped his fingers one more time, and Albus shook his head, focusing on his boyfriend. Scorpius laughed at him, putting his book down. “Are you back on earth?” Scorpius asked, still laughing.

“Sorry…” Albus said, blushing. He sat up from where he had been lying on the grass next to Scorpius, who until now had been reading his latest favourite book to Albus. Albus usually loved to hear Scorpius reading, he had the most soothing voice in the world.

Scorpius shook his head, smiling. “What were you thinking about?” He asked. 

Albus looked back at his boyfriend. He was lying against a tree, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up and his tie slightly undone. They had been dating for three months now, and everyday Albus found him more gorgeous than ever. 

“Us.” He admitted, plainly, because talking to Scorpius was as easy as that.

“Us?” Scorpius asked, resting the opened book against the grass.

“Yeah, and about how much I like you.” He said smiling, and leaned in for a kiss.

Scorpius rolled his eyes, but wasted no time kissing him back. “Dork.” He said, once they pulled apart.

“Ah, but you like this dork” Albus said, waving his eyebrows.

This time, Scorpius groaned, and playfully shoved him away. Albus laughed, and moved to sit next to Scorpius on the tree, resting his body against Scorpius’. Scorpius instinctively wrapped his arm around Albus.

“I mean it, though.” Albus said. “I was thinking about us.” Scorpius tensed the tiniest bit, and turned his face to Albus. “It’s just…” He looked down at Scorpius’ hand and mindlessly started to pick at the beads of Scorpius’ bracelet. “We’ve been dating for quite a while now and…” He looked back at Scorpius. “…and I think I wanna tell everyone that we are together.” He finished.

Scorpius let out a big sigh, and Albus realized just then how tensed Scorpius had been. “Merlin I thought you were breaking up with me.” Scorpius said.

“What?!” Albus pulled away from their embrace, laughing. “Scorpius I just said I liked you.” He kept laughing.

Scorpius shrugged. “Yeah, but you started talking so mysteriously…”

Albus laughed louder. He wasn’t worried about anyone hearing them, it was a Hogsmead weekend and Hogwarts was practically dessert. They were the only ones sitting by the lake that morning. “You are unbelievable.” Albus finally said, leaning to kiss Scorpius again. 

“Are you done laughing at me?” Scorpius said when Albus pulled back.

Albus rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I think I am.” He teased. “For now, at least.” Scorpius tried to shove him again, but he moved before he could reach. “I mean it though,” He said “I don’t wanna keep hiding anymore.”

“We are not hiding.” Scorpius said, though he knew what Albus meant.

After their first kiss, they weren’t really sure of how to continue. Albus knew that he wanted something between them, and Scorpius had told him the same. But both of them were aware of the stories between their families, and even though they weren’t scared of how their families would react (neither expected to be truly disowned) they both had agreed they weren’t ready to face the public commotion. Both of them had their fair experience with the Daily Prophet publishing articles about them and their families, and it wasn’t something they were fond of.

So they had decided to keep them between them, not because they were ashamed, but because it felt safer. It was their own thing, and it felt good and simple, without any external complications.

So three months had passed, and the only person to know was Lily, who hadn't wasted time in interrogating Albus until he confessed. But she kept the secret, and had been nothing but supportive. And by supportive, he meant that she only laughed for five whole minutes after Albus confessed, and proceeded to give them insinuating looks every time she would catch them anywhere near each other. 

And it was fine, Albus didn’t feel the need to tell anyone else. But every time it became harder to make excuses to run away from his friends to spend time with Scorpius, and he was getting tired of having to hide between classes to steal a kiss from his boyfriend. Every day he saw all the other couples, holding hands and walking down the corridors, and he wanted nothing more but the same for Scorpius and him.

“I know,” he sighed. “but I’m tired of worrying about how everyone would react.” He admitted. “Today was Hogsmead day, and even though I love being here right now,” he looked at their improvised picnic set up “I would’ve liked to go to the three broomsticks and have a Hogsmead date.” He admitted.

The grin that appeared on Scorpius smile was one of the brightest Albus had seen “Albus Potter would have liked to go have a Hogsmead date?” He asked.

Albus blushed. “Don’t bully me. You know what I mean.” He mumbled, looking away. 

Scorpius laughed loudly, a warm, deep laugh, so bright that caused Albus to look back at him and he couldn’t help but smile at him. “Dick.” He called him, despite his smile.

“I’m sorry,” Said Scorpius, still smiling. Albus liked this new Scorpius, the one that would sometimes poke fun at him without worrying about how Albus would react. He wanted Scorpius to feel as comfortable as possible with him. 

After a second, Scorpius sighed, and spoke more seriously. “I know what you mean,” he said. “…but…”

Anyone else would have been offended at Scorpius' hesitation, but not Albus. He knew very well about what Scorpius had gone through, all the bullying and harassment, and Scorpius had been very honest about how being with Albus was the safest he’d ever felt besides with his own parents.

“By telling everyone I don’t mean making an announcement or anything,” Albus started. “I just mean being us, without caring about the others.” He took a second. “Though I’d probably would like to tell my brother and my cousins, because they’d be very offended if they don’t hear it from me first.”

Scorpius nodded, but reminded silent.

“What is it?” Albus asked.

“It’s just… I’d like to write my dad about it, first…” Scorpius said, this time focusing his gaze on his bracelet. “I’m not ashamed of us, you know?” He looked back at Albus. “I love being your boyfriend” He said, blushing, and Albus smiled at him. “But I’m aware that if people see us together, they will talk.” He looked back at his bracelet, which he was now twisting with his fingers “And if they talk, words will eventually reach my dad. And it’s not that I don’t want him to know, but…. I wanted to talk about it with him first… I just never know how…” Scorpius finished, and Albus remained silent. 

Instinctively, Albus grabbed Scorpius' hand from where it had been anxiously playing with his own bracelet. “Scorp,” He said, and it still made his heart flutter every time he called Scorpius by anything other than his first name. Scorpius looked back at him. “I understand,” He said, and he truly did. They’ve talk about all this issues many times. “I know three months is still too early, we can wait until you are ready.” 

Albus wasn’t going to negate the fact that he was also afraid of how his parents, especially how his dad, would react. But he was also aware that he wouldn’t mind telling his dad to fuck off if he didn’t accept Scorpius. And he knew that Scorpius would stand up for him too, but he also knew how important his own father was to Scorpius, especially because it was the only family he had left.

“No,” Said Scorpius, determined. “I want to, I wanna go to Hogsmead, and hold hands, and kiss you in the library.” Albus blushed. “I’m gonna write him.” He finished firmly.

“Are you sure?” Albus asked.

“Positively.” Scorpius nodded. “I’ll do it tonight.”

Albus smiled, and Scorpius leaned in to kiss him. Albus very willingly kissed him back. 

“I’m debating whether I want to write my parents, or if it would be funny to give them both a heart attack.” Albus said with a smile.

“Albus,” Scorpius deadpanned. “Please write them.”

Albus laughed. “Come on, it would be funny. Just imagine my dad’s face when he reads the Prophet.” He laughed again. “We can even get Lily to send them a picture for maximum effect.”

“Albus Potter,” Scorpius started, though he was trying not to laugh. “be nice.”

“Or what?” He dared, still laughing. 

“Or I’m gonna have to do something about it.” 

“Oh,” Albus wiggled his eyebrows. “Like what?” He said lowering his voice.

He wasn’t expecting Scorpius to tickle him, but he knew he deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is my second work, and it was originally going to be longer, but i felt like stretching it wouldn't be realistic. (maybe in the future i'll write some one-shots with the scenes i cut)
> 
> anyways, i hope you all liked it!
> 
> kuddos and comments are always welcomed, i love feedback and they motivate me to keep writing :)


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